The untold story

Author Yang Hao is defying narrative convention with her clever, but discomforting fictional debut, Fang Aiqing reports.

Many of today's authors write to encourage readers to believe in, and in some cases, even imitate the characters, plots and lifestyles laid out in their stories. However, Yang Hao, in her 30s, is not afraid to make them feel doubt and discomfort.

The readers' uneasiness drawn from her fictional debut Novel Noir is what convinces her that she has achieved her goal in the way she wanted to shape the atmosphere, linguistic style and characters within her work.