Lenny Hu was a literary translator in China, translating Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus and numerous other American novels into Chinese before moving to Canada, where he received his PhD in Chinese literature. He lives in both Vancouver and Toronto.

A book that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows, The Embroidered Couch is the first English translation of an erotic novel originally published in the early 17th century, attributed to Lu Tiancheng (b. 1580). Regarded as a notorious classic in Chinese literature, it has long been banned in China, and never been available in English.