Set at the turn of the twenty-first century in China along the Tumen River, which separates northeast China and North Korea, The Ginseng Hunter follows the daily life of a Chinese ginseng hunter, who lives alone in the valley, spending his days up in the mountains looking for ginseng and preparing for winter. He is little aware of the world outside until shadowy figures hiding in the fields, bodies floating in the river, and rumors of thievery and murder begin to intrude on his cherished solitude. On one of his monthly trips to Yanji where he buys supplies and visits a brothel, he meets a young North Korean prostitute. Through her vivid tales, the tragedy occurring across the river unfolds, and over the course of the year the hunter unnervingly discovers that the fate of the young woman and those of four others rest in his hands. "The beauty and power of the ginseng root; the respect of the hunter for the thing he hunts-all this lies in such sharp contrast to the wasted life and utter lack of humanity elsewhere on these pages." "Talarigo is well on his way toward establishing himself as a quiet witness to humanity…An expert at luring us out of our comfort zones to bear witness with him, he also gives us quiet heroes who do not give in, who do not give up. What we ultimately choose to do with both the devastation and the hope that we witness is up to us." "Talarigo's tense, atmospheric second novel movingly dramatizes the human faces behind political oppression…Against a backdrop of stunning scenery and of cruelty, creating a memorable, morally stringent tale." "By subtly relating the struggle of plant life on the forest floor to the human struggle at the border, Talarigo offers us a novel that is ultimately a study of survival under hostile conditions."
