Silver Hill Village, 2012. On the twentieth day of the seventh moon Kwok Yun is making her way across the rice fields on her Flying Pigeon bicycle. Her world is turned upside down when she sights a UFThing - a spinning plate in the sky - and helps the Westerner in distress whom she discovers in the shadow of the alien craft.

It's not long before the village is crawling with men from the National Security and Intelligence Agency armed with pointed questions. And when the Westerner that Kwok Yun saved repays her kindness with a large dollar cheque she becomes a local celebrity, albeit under constant surveillance...

Xiaolu Guowas born in south China. She studied film at the Beijing Film Academy and published six books in China before she moved to London in 2002. Her books includeVillage of Stonewhich was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize,A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loverswhich was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction,20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youthwhich was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, andI Am Chinawhich was longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. In 2013 she was named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Xiaolu has also directed several award-winning films includingShe, A Chineseand a documentary about London,Late at Night. She lives in London and Berlin.