DECODED

Penguin Modern Classics (UK) & FSG (US) lead title autumn 2013 Multiple prize-winning debut 17 editions with over 600,000 copies sold in China

Never before translated into English, Decoded tells the story of a maths genius who becomes China's greatest code-breaker, only to be driven mad by the unfathomable darkness in the world of cryptology. With the pacing of a literary crime thriller, it combines elements of magical realism with historical fiction and state espionage. The fact that it takes place in a fully characterised shadowy world of the Chinese secret security, where Mai Jia worked for decades, makes it all the more unfamiliar, intriguing and authentic. The protagonist, Rong Jinzhen, is a classic Mai Jia character, possessing exceptional intelligence, yet also deeply flawed and fragile as a person. Decoded was published in 2002 and became an immediate success. There are over 3,000,000 copies in print and it has won several awards. Mai Jia (the pseudonym of Jiang Benhu) is arguably the most successful writer in China today. He is hailed as the forerunner of Chinese espionage fiction and has created a unique genre that combines spycraft, code-breaking, crime, human drama, historical fiction, and metafiction. His books are constant bestsellers and he has won almost every major award in China, including the highest literary honor - the Mao Dun Award. Material: Chinese manuscript. Full English translation. Length: 146 000 Chinese, apprx 90 000 words in English Rights Sold: Penguin (World English), FSG (US) In his debut novel, Mai Jia creates Unit 701, a top-secret Chinese intelligence agency whose sole purpose is counter-espionage, radio surveillance, and code-breaking. The protagonist of DECODED is Rong Jinzhen, an autistic maths genius. He comes from an illustrious and highly educated family, but was born with an unusually large head. This is the tragic story of his rise to become China's greatest code breaker, his almost mythic birth, the Rong family's role in China's modernisation and education, and his leaving the world of mathematics and academia behind following his "recruitment" by 701. Jinzhen's greatest challenge is a set of highly classified codes called "The Purple Code" which was developed by China's chief enemy (unnamed throughout the book). The mastermind behind the code is Professor Heath, a Jewish genius who is both Rong's teacher at university and his best friend. Rong successfully breaks the Purple Code, but a new and more difficult variation awaits him, the Black Code. Rong becomes obsessed with breaking it. In the process, his notebook, which contains everything he's written about code-breaking, is stolen, eventually driving him insane... A sort of A BEAUTIFUL MIND set in the murky and often dangerous world of code breaking, DECODED brilliantly combines family history, coming-of-age story, spy thriller, and intimate character study to tell the tragic life of a genius. All of Mai Jia's trademarks are present: sharp prose, clipped dialogue, amazing plot twists, and the use of poetic metaphor to "simulate" the art of code-breaking. English translation by Christopher Payne and Olivia Milburn Winner of the VII Mao Dun Literary Award (2008) Adapted into a wildly popular, 30-episode TV series (2006) Major film by the directors of “The Departed” Over 2,000,000 copies sold in China alone Publisher: People's Literature (2006) Material: Chinese manuscript and English sample Length: 214,000 words in Chinese, appx. 140,000 words in English Rights sold: Penguin (World English), ThinKingdom (Taiwan) IN THE DARK is Mai Jia's breakout novel. Structured as a file cabinet, it is composed of five interlinked stories. Each story tells of an unsung hero of Unit 701, first introduced in DECODED. The first story is about Ah-Bing the Blind. He's from a rural village in China. Born blind, his hearing came to compensate so that he can distinguish between each of the 2,000 plus villagers by voice. He is recruited by 701 at a time of crisis after an unusual radio silence from enemy stations. Ah-Bing quickly helps 701 to recapture the missing radio stations. He is promoted, marries a nurse by the order of the Party, and has a son. But he sends a secret recording to his boss saying that the son "is not his" and that the father is a technician in the hospital where his wife works. He is heartbroken and commits suicide. It is revealed that Ah-Bing is in fact sexually impotent and has no idea how to “make babies.” His wife wants him to have a son so gets pregnant by her colleague, never imagining that he would be able to “hear” who the real father is. The second story, "An Angel with Problems" centres on Huang Yiyi, a beautiful maths professor turned code-breaker. She returns from studies abroad out of patriotic fervour and agrees to join Unit 701 to help break a new code. She is extremely good at her job and becomes the first ever female Director, also starting a string of affairs with married male colleagues. She's brilliant, beautiful, but also passionate and without guile. Just before one of her lovers is about to be severely punished, Huang breaks a set of difficult codes, and in return she demands her lover to be left alone. Her wish is granted, but later dies in an accident when her lover's wife bumps into her in a restroom, and a vicious elbow nudge results in her fatal fall. The five stories, as well as the author's previous novel, DECODED, are all narrated by someone called "Mai Jia," whose background is very similar to the writer himself: ex-military, probably worked in intelligence, has a journalistic approach to writing these stories, etc. This technique lends a surprisingly realistic atmosphere to the books, while at the same time making the author, who is already very low-profile, even more mysterious. About the Author Mai Jia (b. 1964) was born into a family with a “bad class background”. He joined the army, working in the propaganda department for a while before turning to writing fiction full time. Mostly set during the Republican period (1913 - 1949), his novels make use of his own army background and recently declassified files. His writing has achieved both literary acclaim, winning him China's top literary awards such as the Mao Dun, but also staggering commercial success. His books are always on the best seller lists, and he has sold over five million in total to date.