Book cover of Tiananmen Square

Book description

'An extraordinary book. Truly important' William Boyd

'Outstanding ... Intimate as well as epic' Sunday Times

'Poignant and powerful' Daily Mail

'Utterly gripping' The Spectator

'Beautiful and devastating' Irish News

Sunday Times Best Summer Reads 2024

A stunning, deeply moving novel about growing up in Beijing in the 1970s and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Tiananmen Square as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This coming-of-age novel was a bit slow to start, but it's deeply rooted in the author's own experiences and the deeper I went, the more connected I felt to the student protests and tense political climate of 70s China leading up to the student protests in Tiananmen Square. The twist at the end asks us all to question what we know, what the media shows us. and what the state hides. And I wept. It's absolutely worth pushing through some of the slower early pacing to dig into this important historical moment and the questions Lai Wen is asking us…

If you love Tiananmen Square...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like Tiananmen Square?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 2 books like Tiananmen Square.

Browse books like Tiananmen Square

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Tiananmen Square, you might also like...

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…