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Half a Lifelong Romance
From one of twentieth-century China's greatest writers and the author of Lust, Caution, this is an unforgettable story of a love affair set in 1930s Shanghai.
Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory, where she meets Shujun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after a separation of many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime? This affectionate and captivating novel tells the moving story of an enduring love affair, and offers a fascinating window onto Chinese life in the first half of the twentieth century.
Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory, where she meets Shujun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after a separation of many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime? This affectionate and captivating novel tells the moving story of an enduring love affair, and offers a fascinating window onto Chinese life in the first half of the twentieth century.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
212 people are currently reading
7990 people want to read
About the author
Eileen Chang
84 books672 followersEileen Chang is the English name for Chinese author 張愛玲, who was born to a prominent family in Shanghai (one of her great-grandfathers was Li Hongzhang) in 1920.
She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.
After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.
She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.
After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 378 reviews
September 29, 2021
[4+] Piercing and wistful, Half a Lifelong Romance has the pacing of a 19th century novel with a straightforward writing style. Set in Shanghai in the 1930s, Chang explores love and loss amid the burdens of family and societal expectations. A quiet novel but unpredictable and compelling. I did not want to let these characters go!
April 14, 2018
Tragedy and ennui are typical outcomes in most of Eileen Chang’s love stories; the characters are often overcome by a sense of fatalism, of life getting in the way of their relationships, of unrequited and unfulfilled love. These are the dominant themes in ‘Half a Life-Long Romance’, which follows the stories of four principle characters; the reserved Shijun and the equally reticent yet delicate Manzhen, as well as the more boisterous pairing of Shuhui and Tsuizhi. All four characters are led astray by their emotions, or by family and friends and ‘Half a Lifelong Romance’ explores the impact of the choices we make and how we live with our decisions, it is a story about human imperfections and how we constantly misunderstand and misconstrue one another’s intentions-there are few happy couples in the story and this perhaps reflective of Chang’s own unhappy love life.
There is something elegant, something ethereal about Chang’s prose style. As with the short stories in ‘Love in a Fallen City’ moon-light frequently evokes the emotional epiphanies experienced by characters; the half-light of moon-light as it accentuates the misunderstandings which drives people apart, the imperceptible moonbeams which accentuate the delicate beauty of Manzhen, the love-lorn nights within which the characters are doomed to wonder. There is something mellifluous and melancholic about moon-light in the novel, as it both beautifies the world and emphasises the separation which exists between the characters ;
“On the balcony itself, the moonlight was swallowed up in the light of the lamps. But Manzhen’s forearm, resting on the railing’s outer edge and bathed in the lunar glow, gleamed white.”
The most tragic character within all of this is Manzhen. Whilst the fates of Shijun, Shuhui and Tsuizhi are primarily, but not wholly, driven by their own choices Manzhen is constantly at the mercy of wider societal prejudices. Her sister’s position as an escort impacts on her ability to form a relationship with Shijun and her rape by her brother-in-law entraps her into servitude in a society in which, as woman, she is blamed for being violated. Tragedy underpins the actions of most the characters; Manzhen’s somewhat callous sister Manlu is forced into being an escort to support her family and this leads her to a path of cynicism and self-destruction, even the essentially morally upright characters constantly make the wrong choices and decisions, so that the novel becomes a collection of might have been’s and could have been’s, a novel in which happiness eludes the characters who are doomed to labour under the weight of the choices they made.
There is something elegant, something ethereal about Chang’s prose style. As with the short stories in ‘Love in a Fallen City’ moon-light frequently evokes the emotional epiphanies experienced by characters; the half-light of moon-light as it accentuates the misunderstandings which drives people apart, the imperceptible moonbeams which accentuate the delicate beauty of Manzhen, the love-lorn nights within which the characters are doomed to wonder. There is something mellifluous and melancholic about moon-light in the novel, as it both beautifies the world and emphasises the separation which exists between the characters ;
“On the balcony itself, the moonlight was swallowed up in the light of the lamps. But Manzhen’s forearm, resting on the railing’s outer edge and bathed in the lunar glow, gleamed white.”
The most tragic character within all of this is Manzhen. Whilst the fates of Shijun, Shuhui and Tsuizhi are primarily, but not wholly, driven by their own choices Manzhen is constantly at the mercy of wider societal prejudices. Her sister’s position as an escort impacts on her ability to form a relationship with Shijun and her rape by her brother-in-law entraps her into servitude in a society in which, as woman, she is blamed for being violated. Tragedy underpins the actions of most the characters; Manzhen’s somewhat callous sister Manlu is forced into being an escort to support her family and this leads her to a path of cynicism and self-destruction, even the essentially morally upright characters constantly make the wrong choices and decisions, so that the novel becomes a collection of might have been’s and could have been’s, a novel in which happiness eludes the characters who are doomed to labour under the weight of the choices they made.
November 23, 2025
Reading this novel was like a tragic riff that begins as a comedy of manners, social class, misunderstandings, and finally the devastation of what could have been.
I've read enough of Eileen Chang’s books now to understand that she often writes about missed connections, mismatched situations, or about characters that experience unrequited love and passion due to how they live their lives, and the circumstances and the constellation of characters that ebb and flow between her protagonists.
In this novel, the romance centers around Shinjun and Manzhen. Shinjun's social standing is that of the upper crust elite- and his love for Manzhen is unacceptable, she is a lowly secretary in the manufacturing company they both work in. Shinjun's manipulative family create enough machinations to keep these two apart, where it reaches at a fever pitch when we learn that Manzhen is also treated badly equally by her own family; especially abused by her older sister who marries a wealthy man, and in order to keep him around, must have a baby to hold their loveless and delusional relationship together.
Manzhen is raped by him, pregnant with his baby, and gives it to her sister, and the hope of ever seeing Shinjun has become more difficult as time passes. Shinjun and Manzhen are ill fated lovers, introverted, and are often awkward, "I've got to admit, feeling insecure is one of my shortcomings. I've got way too many shortcomings, and no good points to make up for them".
Chang writes, "reciprocated love might not be all that unusual, but when a person finds himself in this situation, it comes as a stunning surprise".
Meanwhile, Shinjun marries a woman he does not love, and his relationship with Tsuizhi will always have conflict because she knows he's never been able to get over Manzhen, "but in his heart, he was just as lost. They were, he felt, like to children who have made a terrible mistake".
Eileen Chang writes of bittersweet romance and missed chances when she writes, "love is not passion, perhaps, not yearning either, but the experience of time, the part of life that accumulates through over the months and years".
As I finished reading this novel, it reminded me of the novels I read by Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen, Mavis Gallant and Iris Murdoch- classic master authors who write about sadness and love lost because of how society dictates one's behavior over following their own hearts.
I've read enough of Eileen Chang’s books now to understand that she often writes about missed connections, mismatched situations, or about characters that experience unrequited love and passion due to how they live their lives, and the circumstances and the constellation of characters that ebb and flow between her protagonists.
In this novel, the romance centers around Shinjun and Manzhen. Shinjun's social standing is that of the upper crust elite- and his love for Manzhen is unacceptable, she is a lowly secretary in the manufacturing company they both work in. Shinjun's manipulative family create enough machinations to keep these two apart, where it reaches at a fever pitch when we learn that Manzhen is also treated badly equally by her own family; especially abused by her older sister who marries a wealthy man, and in order to keep him around, must have a baby to hold their loveless and delusional relationship together.
Manzhen is raped by him, pregnant with his baby, and gives it to her sister, and the hope of ever seeing Shinjun has become more difficult as time passes. Shinjun and Manzhen are ill fated lovers, introverted, and are often awkward, "I've got to admit, feeling insecure is one of my shortcomings. I've got way too many shortcomings, and no good points to make up for them".
Chang writes, "reciprocated love might not be all that unusual, but when a person finds himself in this situation, it comes as a stunning surprise".
Meanwhile, Shinjun marries a woman he does not love, and his relationship with Tsuizhi will always have conflict because she knows he's never been able to get over Manzhen, "but in his heart, he was just as lost. They were, he felt, like to children who have made a terrible mistake".
Eileen Chang writes of bittersweet romance and missed chances when she writes, "love is not passion, perhaps, not yearning either, but the experience of time, the part of life that accumulates through over the months and years".
As I finished reading this novel, it reminded me of the novels I read by Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen, Mavis Gallant and Iris Murdoch- classic master authors who write about sadness and love lost because of how society dictates one's behavior over following their own hearts.
April 23, 2022
A fantastic book – powerful, compelling, thought-provoking and beautiful.
December 9, 2018
Introduction, by Karen S. Kingsbury
Note on Romanization
--Half a Lifelong Romance
Note on Romanization
--Half a Lifelong Romance
July 26, 2017
4.9/5
On the scale of show to tell, this veers far on the side of tell, but honestly, I'm tired of pretending that showing, this presumptuous proclamation of an implied need for universal cultural mores, works often enough to merit following it 100%, especially when it comes to fiction written in foreign mentalities and narratives depicting scenes of abuse. How else would you know the perilous rationale of without:
Austen also comes up as a point of reference because all she does is tell, but does so to give credit to the complicated interaction of character and social forces in the worlds that she shapes. Chang is less biting and more relative in observing why people in her pre-WWII urban China do the things they do and spawn the misunderstandings they spawn, but the buck stops at excusing patriarchal figures and altheir sex-worker shaping and other entitled and misogynistic ways. I't snot so simple as oh, foot-binding! The horror! That's a hugely complicated topic in and of itself (see Cinderella's Sisters for why), but Chang is considered with what can be glibly put as 'modern', least as modern as pre-Cultural Revolution China can be. She lays out her cast, sparks a few sustaining emotions, and watches as fate, time, and the misfortunes of the world she once lived in suffocate those sparks just enough to prevent the flame, but never sufficiently to put them out.
It was a memory she could not outlive.You should take the average rating as a more accurate representation of my views than what the current star system will afford. When I read Love in a Fallen City, I didn't have half the proper awareness that I have now, so what went into that book's positive rating was a feeling half proud of, half in love with the sense of venturing where few readers my age, at that time and to my perspective, ha gone before. Misguided as that was, it led me to Chang-translated The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai and the movie of Lust, Caution and this, so there's something to be said for years of maturation. I'm never going to know what I missed by reading/watching all of this and more in English translation, but the little I'm able to get has made me happy that Eileen Chang is a star in the country of her birth.
But that's the sort of thing one hears about in detective stories—in real life, it doesn't happen often.I haven't read an author since Jane Austen who takes love this seriously in such an extraordinary way. No matter what point of history of a particular locale you pick, the times will be in some variation of flux, and the microcosm of a plain ol' fashioned romance, put to paper skillfully enough, can encompass all the destabilizing surges as well, if not in some ways better, than a battlefield. Lust, Caution also deals with a fraught relationship, but all of it was far more black and white and sexually charged than this near 400 page narrative of a happy ending just beyond the edge of tomorrow.
On the scale of show to tell, this veers far on the side of tell, but honestly, I'm tired of pretending that showing, this presumptuous proclamation of an implied need for universal cultural mores, works often enough to merit following it 100%, especially when it comes to fiction written in foreign mentalities and narratives depicting scenes of abuse. How else would you know the perilous rationale of without:
Greed was the motivation behind his confession, but Manzhen did not see this. His self-accusation made her think that he had some kind of conscience after all. Her experience of the world was still not deep enough to help her see that cruelty and cowardice go hand in hand; and that those who, when they're riding high, transgress flagrantly are later crushed by the slightest touch of hardship, at which they pull long, sad faces. A small streak of sympathy leavened her loathing: she had no intention of heeding his wishes, but neither did she want to add to his suffering.You could do your best to show this, but the world is too filled with the mainstream 'literary' style of writers twiddling off into gynephobia land and expecting credit for critical thinking or satire or deconstruction or whatever gives the monumentally popular and demographically gifted a pass for doing worse than nothing.
Austen also comes up as a point of reference because all she does is tell, but does so to give credit to the complicated interaction of character and social forces in the worlds that she shapes. Chang is less biting and more relative in observing why people in her pre-WWII urban China do the things they do and spawn the misunderstandings they spawn, but the buck stops at excusing patriarchal figures and altheir sex-worker shaping and other entitled and misogynistic ways. I't snot so simple as oh, foot-binding! The horror! That's a hugely complicated topic in and of itself (see Cinderella's Sisters for why), but Chang is considered with what can be glibly put as 'modern', least as modern as pre-Cultural Revolution China can be. She lays out her cast, sparks a few sustaining emotions, and watches as fate, time, and the misfortunes of the world she once lived in suffocate those sparks just enough to prevent the flame, but never sufficiently to put them out.
"I can't do this to her—she's already sacrificed so much for our family's sake."I'd only watch one of the film adaptations of this if I was really set on bawling my eyes out. There are a few truly evil (male) people in this, but otherwise, you have this must be implied for the sake of the family, this must be left unfinished for financial constrictions, this must be committed to because our emotional bonds do not exist for our convenience but for our soul, etc, etc, etc. I'm a total sucker for long and involved and super super subtle courtship, especially if the author knows her human beings and other cultural milieu. I rated this less than The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, but only for matters of prose and an increased portion of the sort of grand spread historical/inanimate analysis I like so much. To those who don't read romance: good. Much, much, much more for me.
"I have nothing but sympathy for your sister and what she's been through," Shijun said, "but other people don't see it in the way we do. To get along in society, sometimes you have to—"
Manzhen did not wait for him to finish. "Sometimes you have to show a little courage," she put in.
Love is not passion, perhaps. Not yearning either, but the experience of time, the part of life that accumulates over the months and years.
May 18, 2024
A long moment passed. "Shijun, we can't go back." He knew it was true, but the words shook him to the core.
This is more different than I expected from Chang's Love in a Fallen City or Lust, Caution and Other Stories. Everything feels a bit simpler: the storyline, the emotions, the writing. Where the other two books gave me a sense of Chinese culture from the 'thought world' of similes and metaphors as well as the material descriptions, this one felt flatter in style. Only really the presence of concubines made an impression on how family life was complicated in this period.
I have to say that this steers into quite a lot of melodrama plotwise though the simple and plain prose dials down the soap opera element. Some shocking things happen but Chang frequently leaves the emotions to sit between the lines rather than overloading us with angst. Still, as the pace accelerates in the last third, there are some head-spinning developments, all of which culminate in an achingly bittersweet conclusion.
3.5 stars rounded up
January 4, 2016
A fantastic female writer. It is her poignancy that I love so much. This is a woman who had loved and lost, in a turbulent time in history. War, love, a wait of half a lifetime, holding on and letting go. Eileen Chang is one of my favorite writers. A woman who knew about women.
August 30, 2021
If you’re a fan of books like Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or Anna Karenina, this needs to go on your TBR. Might not be as well known as those three, but it should be!
March 9, 2024
Half a Lifelong Romance [1950/66/2014] – ★★★★★
“Maybe a love like that came to a person only once in a lifetime? Once was enough, maybe” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014: 354]. “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness” (Bertrand Russell).
Half a Lifelong Romance, translated from the Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury, is a modern classic where a timeless story, filled with passion, longing and sorrow, meets fluid and engaging writing. In this story, set in the 1930s, Manzhen, a young girl, forms friendship with her co-worker Shuhui and his friend Shijun; soon after, between Manzhen and Shijun sparks a feeling so innocent and tender that both are left speechless, floating on an island of complete happiness. However, Manzhen’s disastrous family circumstances and Shijun’s own familial duties do not let the lovers get any closer, and, in time, their circumstances only worsen as they try to fight their inner sense of duty, responsibility, tradition and lack of money. Simple misunderstandings, false pride, as well as unexpected betrayals also keep their happiness at bay.
Half a Lifelong Romance is a moving, quietly devastating and exquisite novel that may surprise you with its power (including its dark twist) in the second half. Chang wrote compellingly and beautifully, and her story of Chinese family traditions and one love torn apart by circumstances is one unputdownable read.
“Time does fly for the middle-aged: a decade whips by in the blink of an eye, a flick of the fingertips. When you’re still young, even three or four years, maybe five, can seem an entire lifetime. That’s all they’d had, from meeting to parting – just a few years together. But in that brief span, they’d had a full measure: all the joy and the sorrow that comes with (as the old saying has it) ‘birth, old age, illness, death’” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014:1]. The novel starts with Shijun reflecting on his past and, in particular, on his relatively brief platonic love relationship with Manzhen, then an innocent office girl, fourteen years ago. We are taken back and are presented with three friends – Shijun, Shuhui and Manzhen, who all work in busy Shanghai, but like to spend their lunch time together at a local cafe. Only recently Shuhui has presented to Shijun his female co-worker Manzhen, a beautiful girl, who made an impression on Shijun with her contradictory nature – sweetness, but also self-confidence. Young and full of hope, but with families to support, the three friends dream of a brighter future for themselves.
A love triangle may be forming (recalling now Murakami’s Norwegian Wood [1987]), but we also witness Manzhen and Shijun’s friendship transforming into deeper feelings of love, and Chang captures sweetly that transition of falling in love, with the pair experiencing tender care and devotion for each other: “all this talk was just a smoke screen. Behind that screen, he was holding her hand. That feeling could not be put into words” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014: 89].
After that promising start, life happens – complex situations arise for Shijun and Manzhen, and they come face-to-face with human conceit, jealousy and selfishness. More importantly, they realise that their romantic love has to accord with tradition and familial duties if it is to have any future at all. The beginning is rather slow-moving, but the vivid characters and unexpected events keep us turning the pages. We learn that Manzhen’s older sister, Manlu, did not have an easy life, forcing to support the family by being a taxi-dancer, and that lifestyle, as well as Manlu’s corrupted relations, cast a shadow on the family’s reputation. Shijun’s own lack of confidence and his own pitiful financial situation also complicate matters, and his duty to his family starts to frustrate the touching romance between him and Manzhen. In that respect, Chang’s drama now reminds only slightly of other major romantic classic works, such as Doctor Zhivago [1965], The Age of Innocence [1920] and The Portrait of a Lady [1881]. However, Chang still makes the story all her own – and there is a distinctive touch of sadness to her novel, a touch of reflection and a feeling of hopelessness over unrecoverable moments.
The plot unravels in the background of two contrasting cities – Shanghai and Nanking (with the former being a buzzing city of opportunities and “freedom” and the latter presented as one rooted in tradition, where everyone is assigned their roles from birth and should respect strict rules of behaviour). Nanking is where Shijun’s family resides, and, there, his friend is thinking of one young girl who lives there – Tsuizhi, pitying her condition: “They lived in a tiny social circle [there], with only option in life – find a suitable match, get married and become a daughter-in-law” [131].
This is also a tale of two families (Manzhen’s family and Shijun’s family) and uneasy arrangements in both, as the love between Manzhen and Shijun gets tossed around by some complicating, sometimes contradictory, familial elements and their responsibilities. We get to know well the traditions of a typical Chinese family and a hint on other love triangles also emerges, for example, to the scene comes Yujin, the once promising fiancé to Manzhen’s older sister. What is “proper” and what is “right” start to conflict with what one’s heart yearns for so desperately.
The novel may seem like a “slow-burn” romance, where various circumstances keep the lovers apart, but then something dark happens in the novel’s second half and we dive straight into the narrative which is now fast-paced and disturbing in what it suggests. Whatever conceptions one may have about the novel while reading the first half must be then thrown away, and the novel then concludes on some “romantic” suspense. Somehow, the sheer “quietness” of the book’s first half only makes the second half of the story even more pulsating and disquieting.
🥠 Half a Lifelong Romance is a modern classic that has its own special aura, being both insightful and touching, observant and heart-breaking. It may need a little patience at the start, but it soon morphs into something poignantly unexpected, having vivid characters that fight societal, familial and money pressures to keep their love alive.
“Maybe a love like that came to a person only once in a lifetime? Once was enough, maybe” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014: 354]. “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness” (Bertrand Russell).
Half a Lifelong Romance, translated from the Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury, is a modern classic where a timeless story, filled with passion, longing and sorrow, meets fluid and engaging writing. In this story, set in the 1930s, Manzhen, a young girl, forms friendship with her co-worker Shuhui and his friend Shijun; soon after, between Manzhen and Shijun sparks a feeling so innocent and tender that both are left speechless, floating on an island of complete happiness. However, Manzhen’s disastrous family circumstances and Shijun’s own familial duties do not let the lovers get any closer, and, in time, their circumstances only worsen as they try to fight their inner sense of duty, responsibility, tradition and lack of money. Simple misunderstandings, false pride, as well as unexpected betrayals also keep their happiness at bay.
Half a Lifelong Romance is a moving, quietly devastating and exquisite novel that may surprise you with its power (including its dark twist) in the second half. Chang wrote compellingly and beautifully, and her story of Chinese family traditions and one love torn apart by circumstances is one unputdownable read.
“Time does fly for the middle-aged: a decade whips by in the blink of an eye, a flick of the fingertips. When you’re still young, even three or four years, maybe five, can seem an entire lifetime. That’s all they’d had, from meeting to parting – just a few years together. But in that brief span, they’d had a full measure: all the joy and the sorrow that comes with (as the old saying has it) ‘birth, old age, illness, death’” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014:1]. The novel starts with Shijun reflecting on his past and, in particular, on his relatively brief platonic love relationship with Manzhen, then an innocent office girl, fourteen years ago. We are taken back and are presented with three friends – Shijun, Shuhui and Manzhen, who all work in busy Shanghai, but like to spend their lunch time together at a local cafe. Only recently Shuhui has presented to Shijun his female co-worker Manzhen, a beautiful girl, who made an impression on Shijun with her contradictory nature – sweetness, but also self-confidence. Young and full of hope, but with families to support, the three friends dream of a brighter future for themselves.
A love triangle may be forming (recalling now Murakami’s Norwegian Wood [1987]), but we also witness Manzhen and Shijun’s friendship transforming into deeper feelings of love, and Chang captures sweetly that transition of falling in love, with the pair experiencing tender care and devotion for each other: “all this talk was just a smoke screen. Behind that screen, he was holding her hand. That feeling could not be put into words” [Chang/Kingsbury, 1950/2014: 89].
After that promising start, life happens – complex situations arise for Shijun and Manzhen, and they come face-to-face with human conceit, jealousy and selfishness. More importantly, they realise that their romantic love has to accord with tradition and familial duties if it is to have any future at all. The beginning is rather slow-moving, but the vivid characters and unexpected events keep us turning the pages. We learn that Manzhen’s older sister, Manlu, did not have an easy life, forcing to support the family by being a taxi-dancer, and that lifestyle, as well as Manlu’s corrupted relations, cast a shadow on the family’s reputation. Shijun’s own lack of confidence and his own pitiful financial situation also complicate matters, and his duty to his family starts to frustrate the touching romance between him and Manzhen. In that respect, Chang’s drama now reminds only slightly of other major romantic classic works, such as Doctor Zhivago [1965], The Age of Innocence [1920] and The Portrait of a Lady [1881]. However, Chang still makes the story all her own – and there is a distinctive touch of sadness to her novel, a touch of reflection and a feeling of hopelessness over unrecoverable moments.
The plot unravels in the background of two contrasting cities – Shanghai and Nanking (with the former being a buzzing city of opportunities and “freedom” and the latter presented as one rooted in tradition, where everyone is assigned their roles from birth and should respect strict rules of behaviour). Nanking is where Shijun’s family resides, and, there, his friend is thinking of one young girl who lives there – Tsuizhi, pitying her condition: “They lived in a tiny social circle [there], with only option in life – find a suitable match, get married and become a daughter-in-law” [131].
This is also a tale of two families (Manzhen’s family and Shijun’s family) and uneasy arrangements in both, as the love between Manzhen and Shijun gets tossed around by some complicating, sometimes contradictory, familial elements and their responsibilities. We get to know well the traditions of a typical Chinese family and a hint on other love triangles also emerges, for example, to the scene comes Yujin, the once promising fiancé to Manzhen’s older sister. What is “proper” and what is “right” start to conflict with what one’s heart yearns for so desperately.
The novel may seem like a “slow-burn” romance, where various circumstances keep the lovers apart, but then something dark happens in the novel’s second half and we dive straight into the narrative which is now fast-paced and disturbing in what it suggests. Whatever conceptions one may have about the novel while reading the first half must be then thrown away, and the novel then concludes on some “romantic” suspense. Somehow, the sheer “quietness” of the book’s first half only makes the second half of the story even more pulsating and disquieting.
🥠 Half a Lifelong Romance is a modern classic that has its own special aura, being both insightful and touching, observant and heart-breaking. It may need a little patience at the start, but it soon morphs into something poignantly unexpected, having vivid characters that fight societal, familial and money pressures to keep their love alive.
March 15, 2016
Half A Lifelong Romance is perhaps Eileen Chang's most popular novel, telling the story of Gu Manzhen and Xu Shijun, between whom love quickly blossoms yet traditional family pressures and events beyond their control soon destroy any possibility of their future together. Fourteen years pass before they find that as Manzhen says to her first love, "Shijun, we can't go back."
Eileen Chang's masterful prose, translated by Karen S. Kingsbury, is perfectly able to capture the everyday struggles of pre-1949 China, the "boudoir realism" for which she was often derided by her contemporaries instead explores the everyday lives of ordinary, middle-class Chinese, for whom daily life was marked not by a cataclysmic battle for the soul of the nation but by finding love and dealing with family and business concerns. This subject matter, more introspective and psychological, is where Eileen Chang shines: her novellas (such as "Lust, Caution" and "Love in a Fallen City"are excellent examples of focused, psychological studies of middle-class life with the war against Japan serving as a backdrop to the more to the quiet, private themes of emotional loyalty, vanity and betrayal.
In the character of Manzhen, the reader finds perhaps the closest resemblance to Chang herself: Manzhen's treatment at the hands of her sister and husband reflect the abuse Chang suffered at the hands of her father. This realism, not as the May Fourth writers (such as Lu Xun or Guo Moruo) envisaged as saving the nation but instead exploring the soul, is seen throughout the novel and gives it a powerful human element.
Half A Lifelong Romance is a bitter-sweet and moving tale of life and love, but also hopelessness, of how despite our best intentions, sometimes life doesn't end as sweetly and as hopefully as we think. This love story does not feel contrived but rather the reader is invested in the struggles of Manzhen and Shijun, supporting them even when they seem to have given up.
Eileen Chang saw this as one of her favourite novels, one she never translated into English perhaps for fear of neutering its powerful prose, but through Kingsbury's translation, readers can finally see Chang's pride displayed.
Eileen Chang's masterful prose, translated by Karen S. Kingsbury, is perfectly able to capture the everyday struggles of pre-1949 China, the "boudoir realism" for which she was often derided by her contemporaries instead explores the everyday lives of ordinary, middle-class Chinese, for whom daily life was marked not by a cataclysmic battle for the soul of the nation but by finding love and dealing with family and business concerns. This subject matter, more introspective and psychological, is where Eileen Chang shines: her novellas (such as "Lust, Caution" and "Love in a Fallen City"are excellent examples of focused, psychological studies of middle-class life with the war against Japan serving as a backdrop to the more to the quiet, private themes of emotional loyalty, vanity and betrayal.
In the character of Manzhen, the reader finds perhaps the closest resemblance to Chang herself: Manzhen's treatment at the hands of her sister and husband reflect the abuse Chang suffered at the hands of her father. This realism, not as the May Fourth writers (such as Lu Xun or Guo Moruo) envisaged as saving the nation but instead exploring the soul, is seen throughout the novel and gives it a powerful human element.
Half A Lifelong Romance is a bitter-sweet and moving tale of life and love, but also hopelessness, of how despite our best intentions, sometimes life doesn't end as sweetly and as hopefully as we think. This love story does not feel contrived but rather the reader is invested in the struggles of Manzhen and Shijun, supporting them even when they seem to have given up.
Eileen Chang saw this as one of her favourite novels, one she never translated into English perhaps for fear of neutering its powerful prose, but through Kingsbury's translation, readers can finally see Chang's pride displayed.
September 26, 2018
I enjoyed the book. It is translated from the Chinese I did not know about Eileen Chang before reading this novel. This was a perfect start for me to get to know the author, thanks to The Boxwalla book box.
What to expect:
- very slow. As in extremely slow. I am an impatient reader but the book did not frustrate me at any point. Rather I wanted to read faster and know what happens in the lives of the main characters.
- Set in 1930s Shanghai
-On the whole it is a love story.
-It deals with duty towards family, wealth and lack of it, patriarchy, love, place of women in society
-It is a beautiful story. You would love this for a weekend read.
--
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What to expect:
- very slow. As in extremely slow. I am an impatient reader but the book did not frustrate me at any point. Rather I wanted to read faster and know what happens in the lives of the main characters.
- Set in 1930s Shanghai
-On the whole it is a love story.
-It deals with duty towards family, wealth and lack of it, patriarchy, love, place of women in society
-It is a beautiful story. You would love this for a weekend read.
--
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
January 22, 2019
The ending was perfect. Bittersweet. Reads like Makoto Shinkai - with that quintessential bittersweet tinge to an unpretentious romantic storyline. Except with darker, more fleshed-out, mature characters. Chang's insight into the human condition & psyche reminded me of Thomas Hardy.
The short of this is that this book did no wrong. Perfect characters. Perfect story. Perfect novel. Wow, wow, wow.
The short of this is that this book did no wrong. Perfect characters. Perfect story. Perfect novel. Wow, wow, wow.
January 11, 2019
‘Oh, it’s not important. It’s just a glove!” Manzhen spoke lightly, but in fact she was upset. Sometimes she focused so hard on little things she was almost small-minded. But Shijun, when he looked back at it all, treasured this trait of hers. Manzhen was the kind of person who, once something came into her possession, cherished it till it became, in her eyes, the best thing ever. He knew, because he’d once been hers.
—
It continued raining after they’d returned from the edge of town to the factory. At five o’clock, when they left work, the sky was already darkening. But a vague urge arose in Shijun, and sent him back to the city’s outskirts through the rain. The muddy banks of the rice paddies were treacherous; his feet slipped as he made his way along the dykes. ...
After a long walk, he finally found the willows. Using a flashlight, he spotted the trees from a distance, then a red glove on the ground nearby. At first it made him happy: holding the beam steady, he walked over and picked it up. But once the glove was in his hand, he paused. What would he say when he gave it to her tomorrow? Wasn’t he behaving rather oddly? Walking all this way in the rain, to get a glove for her. Well, he’d owed it to her: if it hadn’t been for the photographs that he needed, she wouldn’t have lost the glove. But that line of reasoning sounded flimsy, even to him. So—what should he do? He wished he hadn’t come, but now that he had, and the glove was in his hand, he couldn’t toss it back onto the ground. He brushed off some mud that had stuck to the wool, and shoved it into his pocket. He’d have to return it to her. He couldn’t hold on to it secretly—that would be the height of ridiculousness...’
‘When Manzhen returned home that day, she felt sad and empty. She’d always avoided discussing her family with others; now she’d broken her own taboo, by telling Shijun so much of their story. Her family lived in a set of rooms that had been rented for them by a man who kept her sister Manlu as a mistress. When that relationship had ended, Manlu recast herself as a second-tier escort, a more respectable occupation, closer to decency, but with a reduced income. She was always pleased if people mistook her for a simple taxi-dancer.’
‘Her apple-green silk cheongsam was fairly new, but there was a darkened area at the waistline, a sweat stain left by a dance partner’s hand. It was a bit unnerving, that hand-shaped mark jumping out from the cloth. Her hair was rumpled, still undone, but she’d put on that stage makeup of hers: blocks of bright red and solid black, with blue eyeshadow. It looked pretty from a distance—up close it was rather scary. Squeezing past her on the narrow stairway, Manzhen felt her senses flooding, dread creeping over her. She could scarcely believe this was her own sister.
Manlu was still talking into the telephone. “Old Zhu is here, waiting for you—been waiting for hours!…Shit!…Since when does he rate?…Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need any of your fixing up. Not in this lifetime—or any other.” She laughed. It was a laugh she’d started using recently, a loud, expansive laugh, as if someone were tickling her. And yet that laugh had nothing attractive in it. It was old and empty; Manzhen hated the sound’
..
��� I have nothing but sympathy for your sister and what she’s been through,” Shijun said, “but other people don’t see it the way we do. To get along in society, sometimes you have to-“
Manzhen did not wait for him to finish. ”Sometimes you have to show a little courage,” she put in
Shijun again fell silent for a long moment. “I see. I’m sure I’ve seemed weak to you, ever since I gave up my job.” In fact, he’d quit that job mainly because of her. It was unfair- words could not begin to express the unfairness of it all…
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my sister, no reason why she should be hidden away, kept from meeting people. She hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s all society fault - this unfair society of ours! If you want to talk about immorality, I don’t know who’s more immoral: prostitutes, or the men who are their clients!”
… His only reply was silence."
—
It continued raining after they’d returned from the edge of town to the factory. At five o’clock, when they left work, the sky was already darkening. But a vague urge arose in Shijun, and sent him back to the city’s outskirts through the rain. The muddy banks of the rice paddies were treacherous; his feet slipped as he made his way along the dykes. ...
After a long walk, he finally found the willows. Using a flashlight, he spotted the trees from a distance, then a red glove on the ground nearby. At first it made him happy: holding the beam steady, he walked over and picked it up. But once the glove was in his hand, he paused. What would he say when he gave it to her tomorrow? Wasn’t he behaving rather oddly? Walking all this way in the rain, to get a glove for her. Well, he’d owed it to her: if it hadn’t been for the photographs that he needed, she wouldn’t have lost the glove. But that line of reasoning sounded flimsy, even to him. So—what should he do? He wished he hadn’t come, but now that he had, and the glove was in his hand, he couldn’t toss it back onto the ground. He brushed off some mud that had stuck to the wool, and shoved it into his pocket. He’d have to return it to her. He couldn’t hold on to it secretly—that would be the height of ridiculousness...’
‘When Manzhen returned home that day, she felt sad and empty. She’d always avoided discussing her family with others; now she’d broken her own taboo, by telling Shijun so much of their story. Her family lived in a set of rooms that had been rented for them by a man who kept her sister Manlu as a mistress. When that relationship had ended, Manlu recast herself as a second-tier escort, a more respectable occupation, closer to decency, but with a reduced income. She was always pleased if people mistook her for a simple taxi-dancer.’
‘Her apple-green silk cheongsam was fairly new, but there was a darkened area at the waistline, a sweat stain left by a dance partner’s hand. It was a bit unnerving, that hand-shaped mark jumping out from the cloth. Her hair was rumpled, still undone, but she’d put on that stage makeup of hers: blocks of bright red and solid black, with blue eyeshadow. It looked pretty from a distance—up close it was rather scary. Squeezing past her on the narrow stairway, Manzhen felt her senses flooding, dread creeping over her. She could scarcely believe this was her own sister.
Manlu was still talking into the telephone. “Old Zhu is here, waiting for you—been waiting for hours!…Shit!…Since when does he rate?…Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need any of your fixing up. Not in this lifetime—or any other.” She laughed. It was a laugh she’d started using recently, a loud, expansive laugh, as if someone were tickling her. And yet that laugh had nothing attractive in it. It was old and empty; Manzhen hated the sound’
..
��� I have nothing but sympathy for your sister and what she’s been through,” Shijun said, “but other people don’t see it the way we do. To get along in society, sometimes you have to-“
Manzhen did not wait for him to finish. ”Sometimes you have to show a little courage,” she put in
Shijun again fell silent for a long moment. “I see. I’m sure I’ve seemed weak to you, ever since I gave up my job.” In fact, he’d quit that job mainly because of her. It was unfair- words could not begin to express the unfairness of it all…
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my sister, no reason why she should be hidden away, kept from meeting people. She hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s all society fault - this unfair society of ours! If you want to talk about immorality, I don’t know who’s more immoral: prostitutes, or the men who are their clients!”
… His only reply was silence."
April 20, 2016
I don't get it. This ended up being another case of not understanding how this could get such good reviews. I heard about this book and was excited to read that this was available in English. I'm not into romances but thought this would be an interesting change of pace.
It's a story of two people who spark a potential romance, except to be sidelined by family drama, societal expectations, etc. Shijun and Manzhen begin taking baby steps towards a relationship but it is their fate not to be.
Since I've read mostly Western (really, US/British authors) romances, I was perfectly fine with reading one where the two do not end up together. However...I thought the book was terrible. It started out okay with an introduction to the characters with getting a feel of their day to day lives, their society, etc. But it is slooooooooooow. I'm okay with books that take awhile to get going but after awhile it just wasn't worth it. I can't tell if it's because of the translation, a cultural barrier or if it's just a bad text. Other people/reviewers seemed to really like it but I simply could not get into it.
Maybe it wasn't the right time or maybe the romance genre as a whole is just not one for me, regardless of the author's background. Oh well.
Luckily I borrowed this one from the library.
It's a story of two people who spark a potential romance, except to be sidelined by family drama, societal expectations, etc. Shijun and Manzhen begin taking baby steps towards a relationship but it is their fate not to be.
Since I've read mostly Western (really, US/British authors) romances, I was perfectly fine with reading one where the two do not end up together. However...I thought the book was terrible. It started out okay with an introduction to the characters with getting a feel of their day to day lives, their society, etc. But it is slooooooooooow. I'm okay with books that take awhile to get going but after awhile it just wasn't worth it. I can't tell if it's because of the translation, a cultural barrier or if it's just a bad text. Other people/reviewers seemed to really like it but I simply could not get into it.
Maybe it wasn't the right time or maybe the romance genre as a whole is just not one for me, regardless of the author's background. Oh well.
Luckily I borrowed this one from the library.
April 16, 2019
If someone watched a soap opera (where no good moment can last longer than a scene and artificial barriers pop up in the next clip, sweeps week insane plot shifts are thrown in just as you are about to give it up, a map of relationships between characters would be a bunch of thick knot of scribbles) and then tried to tell me about everything that happened in a season (their own weird pacing, characters randomly introduced and dropped, many a tangents) - well then it would sound a lot like this book reads.
July 3, 2023
this english title does NOT do the chinese title justice!!!!!
***My entire heart has been violently excavated and its contents churned into rubble
***** THIS IS THE HARDEST I HAVE EVER CRIED READING A BOOK IM ACTUALLY DESTROYED AND I WILL NOT RECOVER!!!! If you want to know my cry-meter I didn’t cry watching past lives or during avengers final movie when Ironman sacrificed himself or whatever
***My entire heart has been violently excavated and its contents churned into rubble
***** THIS IS THE HARDEST I HAVE EVER CRIED READING A BOOK IM ACTUALLY DESTROYED AND I WILL NOT RECOVER!!!! If you want to know my cry-meter I didn’t cry watching past lives or during avengers final movie when Ironman sacrificed himself or whatever
February 4, 2025
In some ways, another Chang novel like the others - emotionally repressed people fall in love in unpropitious circumstances with politics very faintly lurking in the background, lots of great descriptions of spaces and clothes - but this one lurches midway through from her usual glamorous unease into something genuinely horrifying, based on the author's own experiences, and related with her usual economy, refusal of sentimentality and precision (there have been several film and TV adaptations, but the long mid-section of this novel really calls for a Michael Haneke). Apparently, the first version of Half a Lifelong Romance, titled Eighteen Springs and composed before Chang fled the PRC, had a happy ending with the protagonists committing to each other and to build socialism. While the (not a spoiler, this is Eileen Chang) unhappy ending here is convincing, that ending doesn't sound completely bonkers to me: the Chinese revolution was also about promising that women would no longer be treated like cattle - which is precisely happens so suddenly and terrifyingly to the educated, urban, literate heroine of this novel.
January 3, 2021
This book is going to stay with me for a long time. Set in Shanghai in the 1930’s-1940’s, it tells the story of missed chances in the romance between Manzhen and Shijun who meet while working in the same office. Family, especially mothers and sisters, conspire with the best of intentions in both lives with devastating consequences. The book emphasizes the manner in which one event can be construed differently by those involved. Beautifully written, I suspect it is even better in the original language. Highly recommend.
March 29, 2018
In the years before the Second World War a young woman and man fall for each other, but learn that the course of true love never did run smooth.
Book Review: Half a Lifelong Romance is a story of thwarted love. A heartbreaking combination of Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. Throw in Gone With the Wind and a bit of Shakespeare as well. Eileen Chang's focus is love, romance, and marriage, but here that unholy trinity is the gateway to a life of submission, suffering, and sorrow: "All they'd had was a little piece of happiness, a moment that passed all too quickly." The lovers' own hesitation first separates them, but then the twin evils of greed and war complete the division, and lead them into a world where a love meant to be, fails. Constant societal pressures compound the tragedy. At the same time, China is undergoing significant changes, still modernizing and Westernizing, while retaining many of the difficulties and obstacles for women, becoming an almost winless situation, unless one is lucky enough to become a mother-in-law in a comfortable family. The vast divide between rich and poor is also displayed (although servants can be surprisingly outspoken). Half a Lifelong Romance is a story of unrequited, unspoken love, and selfish, horrific betrayal. Ill fated from the beginning. The theme of love denied is repeated and interwoven, afflicting Manlu and Yujin; Shuhui and Tsuizhi; and most notably the star-crossed lovers, Manzhen and Shijun. Chang reveals complex emotions throughout a complex plot of "birth, old age, illness, death." There are extended families, military battles, good and evil. The cruelty of selfishness recurs, many characters trying to manipulate others for their own self-interest. A nice feature was the chaste love between the characters, putting the focus on the emotional rather than the physical, and also interesting that (the worst kind of) lust is presented as like an illness. Much folk wisdom is sprinkled throughout Half a Lifelong Romance: "an invalid soon becomes a physician"; "wine goes to the stomach, worries are in the heart." One truth is "the poor are more than willing to help each other in times of need ... theirs is not the sympathy of the rich, all shriveled up with reservations and inhibitions." The translation is modern ("wimp," "drama queen") and British ("oi," "podgy," "in hospital"). Eileen Chang, or our omniscient narrator, is wise, aware, and thoughtful; a teacher. In the end fate wins out and all the characters' pitiful striving is just food for the laughter of the gods: "The times spent looking forward to something would be his happiest times with her; their Sunday would never dawn." [4½★]
Book Review: Half a Lifelong Romance is a story of thwarted love. A heartbreaking combination of Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. Throw in Gone With the Wind and a bit of Shakespeare as well. Eileen Chang's focus is love, romance, and marriage, but here that unholy trinity is the gateway to a life of submission, suffering, and sorrow: "All they'd had was a little piece of happiness, a moment that passed all too quickly." The lovers' own hesitation first separates them, but then the twin evils of greed and war complete the division, and lead them into a world where a love meant to be, fails. Constant societal pressures compound the tragedy. At the same time, China is undergoing significant changes, still modernizing and Westernizing, while retaining many of the difficulties and obstacles for women, becoming an almost winless situation, unless one is lucky enough to become a mother-in-law in a comfortable family. The vast divide between rich and poor is also displayed (although servants can be surprisingly outspoken). Half a Lifelong Romance is a story of unrequited, unspoken love, and selfish, horrific betrayal. Ill fated from the beginning. The theme of love denied is repeated and interwoven, afflicting Manlu and Yujin; Shuhui and Tsuizhi; and most notably the star-crossed lovers, Manzhen and Shijun. Chang reveals complex emotions throughout a complex plot of "birth, old age, illness, death." There are extended families, military battles, good and evil. The cruelty of selfishness recurs, many characters trying to manipulate others for their own self-interest. A nice feature was the chaste love between the characters, putting the focus on the emotional rather than the physical, and also interesting that (the worst kind of) lust is presented as like an illness. Much folk wisdom is sprinkled throughout Half a Lifelong Romance: "an invalid soon becomes a physician"; "wine goes to the stomach, worries are in the heart." One truth is "the poor are more than willing to help each other in times of need ... theirs is not the sympathy of the rich, all shriveled up with reservations and inhibitions." The translation is modern ("wimp," "drama queen") and British ("oi," "podgy," "in hospital"). Eileen Chang, or our omniscient narrator, is wise, aware, and thoughtful; a teacher. In the end fate wins out and all the characters' pitiful striving is just food for the laughter of the gods: "The times spent looking forward to something would be his happiest times with her; their Sunday would never dawn." [4½★]
April 10, 2024
I gotta not be an avoidant ass mf. Written in a way that makes me think love is the same in any time period. And the ways she describes love rang so true for me. She shows that there’s love, unspoken love, but where both parties are understanding. Also liked that for the most part she showed that love can be a coincidence when it works but if those go slightly the wrong way it doesn’t work and she showed how small of changes could have affected things. Explaining those made certain plot conveniences feel not like plot holes but more like accurate depictions of what could happen.
March 15, 2018
Came expecting heartbreak and a sweet youthful romance kinda in the style of Love in the Time of Cholera but what did I get instead?! A wild ride that literally brought me to some kinda Gothic romance on par with something Ann Radcliffe might have written.
SPOILERS BELOW.
The pacing of the novel really reminded me of a Chinese drama: the settings, the people are all described so intimately that you feel like you almost know every detail of their lives before you get to the main act, which happens nearly all at once, and then falls to a helpless, almost too-soft bitter ending.
I get that the book is very much a product of it's time and it speaks so much of a modern yet so backward time where the characters are struggling to make the jump to modernity, yet keep getting held back by familial ties and obligations, as well as the cultural consciousness of the time. So many times I wished that I could literally reach into the book and throttle Manlu & Hongtsai's creeping, conniving asses, and the anger I felt when Manzhen felt that she absolutely had to marry Hongtsai is honestly indescribable.
And although I did think that the romance between Manzhen and Shujun was sweet, I got a little irritated with the almost aloof, hardly tender romance that flourished between them (that last letter Manzhen sent Shujun though!! "Remember there is someone out there who is always yours." I DIED) & I also wondered if there was a connected between Shuhui & Shujun, given the closeness of their names, so close I got them mixed up sometimes? Besides the fact that both were tied in marriages of convenience, and would never be able to marry the women they loved??
Tszuishi was also such a sad character who was clearly a product of that time: her affected air, slight awkwardness despite her intense beauty and her manner- im sure she would have been my favorite character if Chang had portrayed her in a more flattering light rather than as the haughty, cold person she seemed in the narrative.
& the ending basically ruined me: the half a lifetime's worth of romance ends up as nothing but dust, each character coming to the conclusion that obligations and the society they live in has no more leeway for the fresh, young romance of their youth.
SPOILERS BELOW.
The pacing of the novel really reminded me of a Chinese drama: the settings, the people are all described so intimately that you feel like you almost know every detail of their lives before you get to the main act, which happens nearly all at once, and then falls to a helpless, almost too-soft bitter ending.
I get that the book is very much a product of it's time and it speaks so much of a modern yet so backward time where the characters are struggling to make the jump to modernity, yet keep getting held back by familial ties and obligations, as well as the cultural consciousness of the time. So many times I wished that I could literally reach into the book and throttle Manlu & Hongtsai's creeping, conniving asses, and the anger I felt when Manzhen felt that she absolutely had to marry Hongtsai is honestly indescribable.
And although I did think that the romance between Manzhen and Shujun was sweet, I got a little irritated with the almost aloof, hardly tender romance that flourished between them (that last letter Manzhen sent Shujun though!! "Remember there is someone out there who is always yours." I DIED) & I also wondered if there was a connected between Shuhui & Shujun, given the closeness of their names, so close I got them mixed up sometimes? Besides the fact that both were tied in marriages of convenience, and would never be able to marry the women they loved??
Tszuishi was also such a sad character who was clearly a product of that time: her affected air, slight awkwardness despite her intense beauty and her manner- im sure she would have been my favorite character if Chang had portrayed her in a more flattering light rather than as the haughty, cold person she seemed in the narrative.
& the ending basically ruined me: the half a lifetime's worth of romance ends up as nothing but dust, each character coming to the conclusion that obligations and the society they live in has no more leeway for the fresh, young romance of their youth.
February 27, 2022
I've read and loved family saga style books before, but this is not one of them. I made it halfway through and simply got Cindy to give me a plot summary of the rest of the book because the first half bored my eyeballs out - there was no plot, just a lot of will-they-won't-they. The first half is all backstory but instead of a 200 page back story, it could've easily been reduced to 50 pages and made this book much more engrossing because the second half which I wasn't bothered to read actually has some grit and sounds really interesting. That being said the writing isn't bad and it was quite nice to read, there was just too much waffle for my taste (pun intended).
May 10, 2025
This is a novel in the old style , written as a periodical and so supported by a strong narrative structure and enough characters to bring complexity without overwhelming the reader .
Essentially a tragic love story we have a window on a society less than a hundred years ago which normalized repression of women even as the modern world thrives in Shanghai . Traditional custom and practice including concubinage , economic dependency and a stifling politeness underpins the familiar narrative of first love .
As always with Chang the war is noises off but is enough to cause chaos in the final chapters of the novel .
At the heart of this story are two sisters who have to make appallingly difficult choices and sacrifices while still very young and a mother who is complicit in binding the ropes .All are harmed. As with many novels where convention , family obligation and reserve hold back passion and impulsivity , especially for women , there are no happy endings only hidden regret and an uneasy discomfort for the survivors .
Essentially a tragic love story we have a window on a society less than a hundred years ago which normalized repression of women even as the modern world thrives in Shanghai . Traditional custom and practice including concubinage , economic dependency and a stifling politeness underpins the familiar narrative of first love .
As always with Chang the war is noises off but is enough to cause chaos in the final chapters of the novel .
At the heart of this story are two sisters who have to make appallingly difficult choices and sacrifices while still very young and a mother who is complicit in binding the ropes .All are harmed. As with many novels where convention , family obligation and reserve hold back passion and impulsivity , especially for women , there are no happy endings only hidden regret and an uneasy discomfort for the survivors .
November 30, 2025
This is one of my fav books I've read this year. I love it for the simple reason that I'm a hopeless romantic and this hits all the right chords of my heart.
September 9, 2018
Have lots of mixed feelings finishing this. Mostly anger. Which is a good thing, in a way. A book has to be powerful enough to be able to convey strong emotions and that's why I am rating two stars and not one.
This is a tale of its own time. I am aware of my ignorance of how Chinese society works, and much less how it worked fifty years ago. And this book may reflect accurately its time. Maybe. But the amount of overthinking and complications that arise from simple issues of saving face, being courteous, being a good host, it's nauseating. One of the main conflicts of the novel arises because two male best friends can't talk about a girl one likes. He can't. It would be terrible for some reason I can't even begin to understand. Everything has to be a secret for some reason.
But here is the worst thing: There is certain event in the middle of the book that is so fucked up and so out of place (in my opinion) that changes my view on the whole book. What begins as an innocent love tale takes the darkest turn. The whole situation is so extreme and inappropriate that I had to take a pause for a while. I'm not sure why I finish it... But there is this event and the reaction of most characters, as if it was somehow justifiable, is disgusting. I don't see any romanticism here. I exited this book thinking that upper class China in the fifties is incredibly sexist, much more than what could have imagined. I am disgusted.
This is a tale of its own time. I am aware of my ignorance of how Chinese society works, and much less how it worked fifty years ago. And this book may reflect accurately its time. Maybe. But the amount of overthinking and complications that arise from simple issues of saving face, being courteous, being a good host, it's nauseating. One of the main conflicts of the novel arises because two male best friends can't talk about a girl one likes. He can't. It would be terrible for some reason I can't even begin to understand. Everything has to be a secret for some reason.
But here is the worst thing: There is certain event in the middle of the book that is so fucked up and so out of place (in my opinion) that changes my view on the whole book. What begins as an innocent love tale takes the darkest turn. The whole situation is so extreme and inappropriate that I had to take a pause for a while. I'm not sure why I finish it... But there is this event and the reaction of most characters, as if it was somehow justifiable, is disgusting. I don't see any romanticism here. I exited this book thinking that upper class China in the fifties is incredibly sexist, much more than what could have imagined. I am disgusted.
June 28, 2016
Set in 1930's Shanghai and Nanking against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion, which seems to have surprisingly little to do with this story. It is very elegantly written, conveying the innermost unspoken conflicts of each of the characters. But it was a painful book to read.
Two young people, coworkers, fall in love, innocently, and almost unexpectedly, but circumstances beyond their control conspire against their happiness. Misunderstandings, terrible coincidences, unwritten rules of conduct, and evil acts against them all work to insure their misery. There is no triumph, no justice, no retaliation, not even any resistance. It had the potential for a great revenge story, but it wasn't that kind of book. It was a dissatisfying book. I'm glad I read it, but it pissed me off.
Two young people, coworkers, fall in love, innocently, and almost unexpectedly, but circumstances beyond their control conspire against their happiness. Misunderstandings, terrible coincidences, unwritten rules of conduct, and evil acts against them all work to insure their misery. There is no triumph, no justice, no retaliation, not even any resistance. It had the potential for a great revenge story, but it wasn't that kind of book. It was a dissatisfying book. I'm glad I read it, but it pissed me off.
maybe
August 23, 2014Description: Manjing is a young worker in a Shanghai factory, where she meets Shujun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after a separation of many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime? This affectionate and captivating novel tells the moving story of an enduring love affair, and offers a fascinating window onto Chinese life in the first half of the twentieth century.
December 23, 2016
(I still have no idea how I got this book--it showed up on my doorstep one day.)
This book was enjoyable for the most part. I need to read more books that don't take place in the US or Western Europe, and Chang's writing flowed enough so I wasn't bored, even though not a whole lot happened. I knocked off a star because there was a sexual assault that was just kind of breezed over, but it bothered me for a good 50 pages. All in all, I'd recommend this.
This book was enjoyable for the most part. I need to read more books that don't take place in the US or Western Europe, and Chang's writing flowed enough so I wasn't bored, even though not a whole lot happened. I knocked off a star because there was a sexual assault that was just kind of breezed over, but it bothered me for a good 50 pages. All in all, I'd recommend this.
November 9, 2018
3.5
I flip flopped through this book—going from ok, to good, to ok, to good again. I think there’s a sense of space with this book that has all of the “what ifs” and “if only I’s” and longing and yearning that’s so good but I found myself enjoying the atmosphere in Chang’s writing more than the story.
I flip flopped through this book—going from ok, to good, to ok, to good again. I think there’s a sense of space with this book that has all of the “what ifs” and “if only I’s” and longing and yearning that’s so good but I found myself enjoying the atmosphere in Chang’s writing more than the story.
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