This short novel by one of China's leading female writers is an intimate portrait of a woman's life, caught up in a rapidly shifting world. Dissipation is the story of Su Xiaohui, a young woman desperate to create a better life for herself. Leaving behind her friends and family in Shanghai, she travels to Malaysia, where her wealthy aunt and seemingly ideal husband offer her a chance to fulfill her dreams. But when her mother is taken ill ten years later, Xiaohui finally returns home. She finds herself in a bewildering city, infused with the images of a life she thought she had left behind. When loneliness leads her back to her former lover, her tenuous relationships with those around her are severely tested.

Dissipation asks a crucial question: Should we try to recreate the past? In heart breaking, beautiful language the novel describes Xiaohui, her experience of going back, and how she finds herself facing unexpected extremes of emotion and desire.