Migrant workers are an oft-neglected aspect of the Chinese economic success story. While there have been other books on them, a new novel offers an impressive account of what it means to be one, by someone who has lived that life.

Wang Shixiao, 38, grew up in a village of southern Hubei province. The junior high graduate worked his way up as a factory worker to become a self-taught literary star.

The Guangzhou-based writer has written five novels and three collections since 1999 under the penname, Wang Shiyue. Literary critic Chen Fumin calls him the "most original migrant worker writer" — one who has witnessed the making of history.

Wang says the first 15 years of his wage-earning days were mind-boggling hours of hard labor. Only over the past five years, has he been able to contemplate what it means to be a migrant worker.

He has put this introspection into Li Baoyun, the protagonist nicknamed Laowu, in his latest novel No Monument (无碑).

The novel is an epic account of the spiritual awakening of a migrant worker between 1988 and 2007. It is set against the backdrop of a village that is slowly industrializing.

Wang says he has distilled 20 years of his own experiences into presenting the tough choices facing individuals in a society in rapid transition.

His familiarity with the manufacturing business in China's southern cities, adds enormous credibility to the novel.

Before he started writing, Wang wrote the words "justice, kindheartedness, resolution, faith, youth, dream, suffering, tolerance, and love" on a piece of paper. His protagonist Laowu embodies all of these qualities.

He also carries a palm-shaped birthmark on his face whose purple hue deepens when he gets excited. While a put-off in love, it serves him well whenever the idealist in Laowu has to take an upright stance.