CLICK ON THE TITLES
below for more about Aimee's books & work.

Novels
FLASH HOUSE
a suspenseful novel of rescue and redemption set in Central Asia at the start of the Cold War, featuring two unforgettable heroines whose fates are irrevocably intertwined.
CLOUD MOUNTAIN
The unforgettable tale of star-crossed love that spans four decades and two continents.
FACE
A young photographer wrestles with her repressed past and identity as an Amerasian in New York's Chinatown. Now back in print after more than a decade, FACE is Aimee's first novel.
Craft & Criticism
"FOR WRITERS ONLY" NOTES ON CRAFT & THE WRITING LIFE
Resources and suggestions for students and fellow writers
BOOK REVIEWS
Aimee's latest book reviews
Work on Eating Disorders
GAINING: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders
How do anorexia and bulimia impact life AFTER recovery? GAINING is one of the first books about eating disorders to connect the latest scientific insights to the personal truth of life before, during, and especially after anorexia and bulimia.
SOLITAIRE A Memoir of Anorexia
America's first memoir of anorexia, and one of the earliest books about eating disorders, originally published in 1979
Restoring Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Lives: Guidance and Reflections on Recovery from Eating Disorders
While there are numerous memoirs available chronicling individual women’s struggles with anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, this is the first book to bring together many people’s stories to create a complete and candid picture of the recovery process. Aimee Liu has skillfully brought together firsthand accounts of recovery to create a realistic roadmap for the journey. This book also includes informational sidebars, written by professionals in the field, on topics including treatment options, choosing the right therapist, the pros and cons of medication, how parents and spouses can help, and much more.
Recent Essays
WHY I'M STILL MARRIED "A Great Wall"
Love springs from an improbable meeting on the Great Wall of China.
MY CALIFORNIA "Transients in Paradise"
Beverly Hills from the inside out. All sales from this anthology benefit the California Arts Council.
Short Story
MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER "The Other Side"
Aimee's short story "The Other Side" appears in this anthology of stories inspired by Bruce Springsteen's song "Meeting Across the River."

WHY I'M STILL MARRIED
"A Great Wall"

In this wonderful new anthology, due out February 2006 from Hudson Street Press, Aimee tells the story of (almost) meeting her husband on the Great Wall of China.


In the spirit of the bestselling The Bitch in the House, Why I’m Still Married captures the passion, loss, joy, friendship, and humor that marks lifelong commitment through a brilliant kaleidoscope of voices, such as Julia Alvarez, Susan Cheever, Elizabeth Graver, Erica Jong, Aimee Liu, Bharati Mukherjee, ZZ Packer, and Marge Piercy.

Revealing the myriad ways in which women navigate the bumpy terrain of emotional intimacy, weather arguments and separations, adjust to parenting, avoid—or succumb to—the temptation of infidelity, and decide who does the dishes, this riveting collection is at once unique and universal, and will speak to any woman who’s ever been in a long-term relationship.

From Publishers Weekly
Whether they're on their first marriage or their fourth, each of the 24 contributors to this thought-provoking collection has terrific stories and wisdom to share, and they all do it masterfully. "Nobody is a perfect match and we have to accept that," writes Marge Piercy, who has learned to accommodate her husband's quirks, just as he has hers. Editor Propp's husband expressed his annoyance—anger, actually—over differences so viciously that after five years she began fantasizing about leaving. Instead, she went to the Internet, read about verbal abuse and learned to stand up for herself. NPR reporter Maria Hinojosa says, "I stay married because this is the one person who understands how to help make me into a better person." You might not agree with everyone's theories—Hannah Pine defends her choice to be a mother in an open marriage—but each one deals with the real problems, and pleasures, of marriage. As editor Trounstine puts it: "[m]arriage doesn't have the excitement of the illicit or the thrill of the daredevil. It's more like the quiet hum of the everyday and the occasional surprise of the sunset."




Why The Great Wall Is Like Love

An excerpt from Aimee's essay in WHY I'M STILL MARRIED:

The Ch’in emperors who originally envisioned the Great Wall snaking across the face of China believed they could unify their civilization by constructing a barrier that would at once keep invading barbarians out and restless subjects in. They spent centuries proving the plan didn’t work while simultaneously creating one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Wall was never completed. Attacking hordes easily scaled it. Vast sections fell into ruin. The beauty of that serpentine line today lies as much in the audacity of its inception and echoes of voices stilled in its rubble as in the concrete details of geography and structure.
It may be a mistake to overromanticize such an imperfect symbol of wholeness. The Middle Kingdom was never actually the middle of anything other than its own illusions, and the Wall marked neither the beginning nor the end of civilization. But when astronauts spot the Wall through their windshields in outer space, they don’t think about the imperfection. They don’t fault the line for being too short, or too old, or irrelevant. They speak of the sighting with awe and pride, as if the Wall is their own. From that great distance it marks where every one of us comes from, and where we belong.
* * *