Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point reporter Shi Wenjing
In February 2022, Fu Zhen, who had been silent for seven years, finally brought her first novel, "Zebra". Taking "fertility" as the entry point, taking female strength as the core, using the perspective of travelogues and suspenseful stories, we face the confusion and excitement of 30-year-old women.
From influencer blogger to full-time writer: "She lived the way I wanted"
Gao Zan, who knows who is Fu really?" replied, "She lived the way I wanted to be." ”
Born in a bookish school, a high-achieving student at a prestigious university, studying in the Uk, an investment banking elite, legendary love, giving up a high salary to travel around the world, first-class clothing, a well-known blogger, a best-selling author... Fu Zhen, who is affectionately called "Old Fu" by readers, is also a model of the ideal way of life in the hearts of readers. In the era of WeChat public accounts and short videos, she is still insisting on updating her personal independent blog, writing full-time while performing her mother's duties.
Fu Zhen once went to Thailand because of a congenital recurrent miscarriage, and became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter with the help of assisted reproductive technology, and "Zebra" is partly based on this real experience. In addition to childbirth, the novel also uses stories to explore topics such as marriage, family, travel, career choices, and humanistic history, telling the story of contemporary women's self-search and self-reconciliation. Despite more than 10 years of writing, this was Fu Zhen's first attempt at a novel. However, no matter the theme, brushstrokes, and stories, they are far beyond the appearance of the newcomer authors of the novel, showing surprising sophistication and freedom, which makes the eagerly awaited readers call it "a book that people can't wait to read in one breath".
Exotic suspense story + female proposition
The wonderful and floating Thai style, the real and struggling life outlook, the mysterious characters and clues together constitute the complex and vivid and exotic temperament of the work. Fu Zhen cleverly uses the story full of suspense to lead readers to experience the hardships and helplessness of the process of assisted reproduction, among which the images of Alex and Su Ang are portrayed in three points, and are considered by readers to be a suspenseful version of "Love at Dawn and Dawn".
It is undeniable that the highlight of "Zebra" is that it encompasses almost all the propositions of contemporary women's lives: love and fertility, marriage crisis, professional hobbies, personal exploration, original family, gender relations, dating culture, dress freedom... However, the protagonist Su Ang is not only a young wife caught in the obsession with fertility, she represents the contemporary urban women with good education, good jobs and good families, facing the process of self-separation to self-reorganization caused by the pain of childbirth. Behind the tropical atmosphere full of a relaxed vacation feeling is the general anxiety of contemporary intellectual women in Suang.
"Zebra" closely focuses on the hot topic of women's topics at present, and through the three core themes of reproductive choice, self-growth and gender relations, it tells how contemporary women should get rid of the shackles of the environment and concepts, correctly treat love and marriage, and become spiritual and material independent women.
Fu Zhen said in his creation talk: "It is said that Kenzaburo Oe took this sentence from the Bible as the basic principle of his writing:'I am the only one who escapes and comes to report to you.'" 'Letters' is undoubtedly exactly what I want to do—to send letters to the world, to refute people who take things for granted, to define women as they please, and to tell everyone that there is another side to the stories in the shadows. ”
The story of "Zebra" involves thinking about female identity, questioning women's situation, identifying with female identity, etc., and is discussed and elaborated in the form of a story, with profound thinking and strong social concern.
Escaping from difficulties, grasping fate, and encouraging each woman to become an independent self are the core values of Zebra.