A Song to Drown Rivers

A Novel

By: Ann Liang

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick • An October 2024 Indie Next Pick • An October 2024 LibraryReads Pick

“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.”—Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.

Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.

Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.

Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.

"Stunning and heart-rending."—Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2024 Ann Liang (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Nobody does yearning and sacrifice better than the Chinese classics, and Liang has given us a new classic that achingly captures the will of kings, the intelligence of women, and the heartbreak of war. Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you." –Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 Sunday Times Bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World

“Ann Liang has fashioned an elegant historical epic, honouring the ingenuity of women in the face of impossible odds. With impeccable pacing, evocative prose, and a romance that had my heart in a vice, A Song to Drown Rivers will call you onward, page by page, until you reach its devastating end.” – Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree

"A stunning, heart-rending feat of a story. A Song to Drown Rivers retells ancient legend with phenomenal voice, bringing a truly worthwhile addition to the historical fiction genre." –Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings

This needs to be made into a movie

This book is awesome. The story was so attention grabbing. I would love to have a movie based on this. The imagery in the pages are so vivid. i could imagine the sounds of the water rushing in the river and I could see the characters while I read. A great read!!!

Epic Story Richly Told

The language and the story are stunningly beautiful. This would be a great listen for a road trip. The narration is wonderful and honors the text.

Interesting depiction of surreptitious plans to undermine an enemy

A little heavy on the romance. Less is more and the Chinese are known for subtlety in these matters.

Impactful story

Very impactful themes. Great story about revenge not being all that it cracked up to be, circle of violence, and blindly following leaders. The voice acting was amazing as well highly recommended.

Disappointing

Great premise for the story but turned out to be a sappy love story with the female characters making amateur mistakes.

a Tragic Romance

I loved it.
the story was beautifully written.

Sesha is called upon to help her kingdom. She's asked to seduce the other kingdoms king so her home can reign again.
along the way she falls in love with the man who helps train her to become a well trained concubine.

the ending had a very unexpected twist.
I couldn't stop listening.

Heavy on Romance

I chose this because the premise interested me and I haven’t read much about rural China during the times of war lords and kings. The performance was quite good but it too often veered into a romance novel for my liking.

Beautiful poignant story

Loved this retelling of folklore. The narrator was perfect. A tragedy but with a message that is still perfect for today.

Folly of war

Truth observations of war and men egos thinking brutal power is more important than the human needs for kindness and brotherhood,

Returned, Did not finish.

If you've read one Harlequin romance novel, you've read them all. Someone should have been more clear that this is just a tired, old, overdone Harlequin romance story, and I wouldn't have even bothered. Most beautiful barely legal damsel in the world, handsome, aloof, distant worldly man. Tired trope after tired trope. I quit after two hours. Read some other reviews with spoilers and saw that I'm not missing anything.
The narrator has a style that I really dislike. I've heard her before, and thought her breathy, half-whispered intensity was for the other book which was a thriller. No. Turns out she speaks in this half-whisper for all her narrations. It's so bad that combined with the story, I just couldn't listen to another word.