红浮萍

by 李彦

This riveting saga spans three generations of Chinese women before, during, and after Mao's regime. The story is told by Peace, a young Chinese woman who now lives and works as a housekeeper in North America. She has just learned of her father's death in China and begins to share the past adventures of her grandmother and mother in the homeland.

328 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[Susan Chow-Dukhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read for people who like realism in their historical fiction, this novel is 75% about four generations of women living in China from the turn of the century to the late 1980's and the effect of wars, Communism, Nationalism, etc. affected the populace, in particular, the impact on the families who were considered to be rich landowners. The remaining 25% illustrates how some people were stigmatized, punished, ostracized and beaten both mentally and physically and how were able to survive.
While it could be criticized that there are jumps in the time line when we don't know what's happening to some of the characters, this is reflective of the actual family history of many Chinese families, who don't mention the past about what they went through, and gaps in the family tree, as nothing is discussed about the friends and family members who are no longer alive.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not an easy read, dense and rather bleak, but well written and captivating. The author made a long and complicated story coherent and while shocking, understandable.