She Who Became the Sun

In Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, narrated by Natalie Naudus, a unique, queer retelling of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty unfolds in a 14th-century China under Mongol rule. Orphaned after a bandit attack, clever and determined Zhu assumes her brother's identity to escape a fate of nothingness, entering a monastery as a male novice. As she fights for survival and embraces her ambition, Zhu's journey reveals the lengths one will go to redefine destiny and seize greatness.