The book that has captivated millions of Chinese readers, translated into English for the very first time.

'An enduring cultural icon. Every story conveys Sanmao's infectious capacity for wonder' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

'Stories of the Sahara has endured for generations of young Taiwanese and Chinese women . . . Sanmao's prose, which oscillates between memoir and fiction, has a laconic elegance that echoes the Beat poets' New York Times

'A remarkable and brave book. Sanmao was a freewheeling feminist who broke all the rules and did so with a gleeful, mischievous style . . . Sanmao deserves all the praise, even if it has been a long time coming' David Eimer, South China Morning Post

When I first arrived in the desert, I desperately wanted to be the first female explorer to cross the Sahara. The thought of it used to keep me up all night.

Sanmao: author, adventurer, pioneer. Born in China in 1943, she moved from Chongqing to Taiwan, Spain to Germany, the Canary Islands to Central America, and, for several years in the 1970s, to the Sahara.

Stories of the Sahara invites us into Sanmao's extraordinary life in the desert: her experiences of love and loss, freedom and peril, all told with a voice as spirited as it is timeless.

At a period when China was beginning to look beyond its borders, Sanmao fired the imagination of millions and inspired a new generation. With an introduction by Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti, this is an essential collection from one of the twentieth century's most iconic figures.