This is not to say the sisters are victims. Bi's portraits of Yumi, Yuxiu and Yuyang are deeply nuanced. Though each girl experiences personal tragedy, none of the sisters could be characterized as "passive." The writing in Three Sisters is vivid, and the book moves quickly. But it's Bi's exquisite detailing of emotions that really lend credence to his "best writer" label. On Yumi's failed engagement, he writes: "[H]er happiness seemed like a bamboo basket: Its holes were revealed when it was taken out of the water. At such times, strands of sadness would inevitably wrap themselves around her heart." It's highly likely that readers will find similar strands wrapped around their own hearts.

Literary offerings

>Three Sisters is just one of several works by Bi Feiyu available to voracious readers – and film buffs, too. Here are two of Bi's other ventures worth checking out.

>The Moon Opera – Published in English in 2009, Bi's debut novel about rage and redemption established him as a bona fide rising literary star. Like Three Sisters, it is also a female-centric book, but set against a backdrop of Peking opera. It follows the life of 19-year-old actress Xiao Yanqiu, who in 1979, brutally attacks and disfigures her understudy in a fit of jealousy backstage during a performance of the opera Chang'e Flies To The Moon. Xiao's troupe exiles her from the group; her only recourse is to become a teacher. Twenty years later, a wealthy factory owner looks to sponsor a revival of the show, but only on the condition that Xiao reprise her role as Chang'e, a woman who turned immortal. Xiao's dedication is deep, but the years since her exile have left their mark and she struggles to recapture her former glory. The Moon Opera was nominated for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, a British literary award, in 2008.

>Shanghai Triad – In 1995, before he became a successful novelist, Bi adapted another novelist's work for the screen. His script for Li Xiao's Yao a yao yao dao Waipo Qiao was directed by famed director Zhang Yimou. Set in 1930, it tells the story of a teenage boy brought from the country to work as a servant for the mistress of a powerful Shanghainese gangster. The film was nominated for an Academy Award.