Dream of the Walled City
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Marking the debut of a stunning new literary talent, Lisa Huang Fleischman's extraordinary saga -- inspired by her grandmother's life as an early feminist, political activist, and friend of Mao Zedong -- is a masterpiece about one clever and resourceful woman, growing up amidst the turmoil of twentieth-century China.
Born in 1890, the privileged and sheltered daughter of a high-ranking imperial official, Jade Virtue spends her childhood enclosed by the towering walls of her family's sprawling mansion, never glimpsing the desperate struggle of China's ancient society, as the old ways are challenged and the twentieth century -- fast, fearsome, and tumultuous -- rushes in. But when her father mysteriously dies, young Jade Virtue is suddenly thrust into poverty, and experiences firsthand a traditional culture falling apart under the onslaught of growing rebellion against the Emperor, rapid social changes, and the mounting aggression of Japan and the West.
Fleischman has rendered a richly textured, panoramic vision of Chinese life in the perilous years between the end of the empire and the Communist triumph of 1949, charting Jade Virtue's arranged first marriage to the corrupt opium addict Wang Mang, who harbors a terrible secret in his family's past; her awakening independence and ambivalent politics; her struggles with motherhood; and her fascinating acquaintance with a gifted, idealistic, fiercely ambitious young man named Mao Zedong. But the most important choices of her life are shaped by her conflicting loyalties, her intense lifelong friendship with Jinyu, a fiery woman revolutionary, and to Guai, a government official and sworn enemy of the Communists, with whom she finally discovers true and redemptive love.
Exquisitely nuanced and lyrical yet marked with a driving power, Dream of the Walled City is an enthralling novel of hard-won personal independence set against the vivid backdrop of a rapidly changing world. From the final days of the last dynasty through the savage Japanese invasion during World War II to the formidable red dawn of the Communist triumph; from the backward rural province of Hunan to exile on the tropical shores of Taiwan; and from the binding chains of predetermined fate to the exhilarating liberation of a human spirit, this is a remarkable odyssey you will never forget.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Earnest and emotionally astute, this sweeping historical novel opens in 1900, "in the empire of China, in the red-earth province of Hunan, in the ancient walled city of Changsha." Jade Virtue's father, the city magistrate, has recently died, and Jade's mother sells the family's mansion and moves with her three children--10-year-old Jade; Jade's older brother, Li Shi; and younger sister, Graceful Virtue--to a more modest home. The story begins in earnest eight years later, with Li Shi's desire for a commission in the military, which costs more money than the family has. To help her brother, Jade Virtue sacrifices her personal happiness by arranging a marriage for herself with the presumably wealthy son of a rich clan, the Pans. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that her husband is an opium addict, and his family is ruined. In order to support her in-laws, she begins teaching at a girls' middle school at the suggestion of her revolutionary friend Jin Yu, which shames her initially (working is still viewed as damaging to a woman's modesty) but ultimately fulfills her in ways she never expected. At this point, the coupling of history and personal narrative loses its seamless synchronicity. Sections dealing with the early history of the Communist movement and the story of the turbulent years leading up to WWII overshadow the quiet actions of an ordinary woman who happens to live in interesting times. After her ties to the Pans dissolve, Jade begins her life anew with a deputy magistrate, Wu Guai Er, building a family and home where she finally feels a sense of belonging. Although Jade Virtue's life neither parallels nor truly illuminates the political upheaval--which is best represented by Jin Yu's activities with the Communist Party (of particular interest is a young, magnetic Mao Zedong) and Li Shi's progression through the Guomindang military ranks eventually to become brigadier general of Hunan--it does pique the reader's interest in the tumultuous history of her country.
