The Hourglass

The book tells the story of Mo Xingxing, a girl who develops binge-eating disorder after her mother’s mysterious death. The character was inspired by a girl with binge-eating disorder whom the author met in real life. The stories of these “troubled girls” deeply moved Rao Xueman and inspired her to begin writing coming-of-age novels about youthful pain. Through this book, she hopes to show young readers what growing up truly means. Mo Xingxing suffers from alternating binge-eating and anorexia. When Xingxing was young, her mother sacrificed herself to save a boy, and from then on, laughter vanished from their broken family. Raised under the title “hero’s daughter,” Xingxing is sensitive and fragile by nature. Whenever she suffers emotional distress, her disorder takes hold, and she secretly eats astonishing amounts of food. When her classmate Mi Sha accidentally discovers her secret, the two girls quickly grow close. In Mi Sha, Xingxing finds friendship and comfort unlike anything she’s ever known... Later, she meets Lu Li, the boy Mi Sha has a crush on. Just as Xingxing decides to start over, she uncovers a shocking secret about her mother. Her mother, Lu Li, and Mi Sha: everyone around her seems to be connected in ways she never could have imagined.