Dwelling in silence: essays on identity, belonging, and the unspoken

"Dwelling in Silence: Essays on Identity, Belonging, and the Unspoken brings together 131 essays written by Gan Liu (pen name: Desolate Isle) over six years, from 2020 to 2025. The collection spans topics including the pandemic, real estate, livelihoods, and society in both China and the United States, and is organized into four sections: "Epidemic & Control," "Housing & Burden," "Voices & Questions," and "West & East." For readers and researchers seeking to understand the true social landscape of China during and after the three-year pandemic, this book offers an invaluable record - a cross-section, a case study, and a primary source - documenting the lived experiences, the collapse of property values, and the sweeping economic and human costs of that era. The six years from 2020 to 2025 were extraordinary in the darkest sense. Many in China felt as though they were passing through a trial of life and death - careers destroyed, families bankrupted, and some driven to end lives that should never have been cut short.