Set in 8th century China during the Tang Dynasty, The Walking Boy is a vivid and compelling novel inspired by true historical events during the final years of the reign of the countrys only female emperor. Abandoned as a young child to the care of an aging hermit monk, Baoshi lives a simple and pious life in an isolated mountain shack. Although called a boy, Baoshi carries with him a secret only his master knows: he was born both male and female. When he is just sixteen, the young disciple is sent on a quest to find his masters former lover. So begins the walking boys journey to Changan, the ancient Western Capital and the epicentre of the Tang Dynasty, ruled by the bitter and aging Female Emperor. Baoshi soon finds himself embroiled in a ghost story set amongst the sumptuous and elaborate rituals of the palace, a decadent world of corruption and intrigue, passion and desire.Written with exquisite lyricism and boundless imagination, The Walking Boy is a contemporary re-visioning of 8th century China that employs the narrative conventions of the classical Chinese novel through the prism of a hauntingly modern story of love and longing, power and greed, and the individuals search for meaning.