The Chinese edition will usually be released a few months after the publication of the book in its original language, but Klara and the Sun was a rare exception. The pandemic may have hindered the publishing process at Knopf, but more importantly Feng believes that the author's working style gave the Chinese publisher an advantage in terms of timing.

"Ishiguro is a slow writer, with just nine books published in a career spanning four decades," Feng says. As a writer, Ishiguro is a perfectionist who will keep on editing his drafts even after they are submitted, correcting minor mistakes and replacing details with wording that he considers more appropriate.

Also, Feng says: "We managed to speed up the publishing process of the Chinese edition of Klara, thanks to great coordination."

Song Qian, translator of the book, is himself a team member of the literary department at the Shanghai publishing house. "With Klara being one of this year's most important books for us, I asked Song to prioritize the translation before any other projects, a task he accomplished with a high degree of quality," Feng says.