NORTHERN GIRLS tells the story of Qian Xiaohong, a young girl who moves from her rural Hunan countryside home to make a new life in the bustling boomtown of Shenzhen. A beautiful coming of age novel, Northern Girls uncovers the experiences of young women who are a large part of China’s rural-urban population migration, leaving on a search for opportunity. Above all else, Northern Girls tells a story of the drivers of China’s economic miracle who are usually overlooked; it is a story of hardship and uncertainty but told unflinchingly with humour and raw charm.