Helpful Score: 2
Not the kind of book I care for. Too much detail, too many names to remember. I love Chinese women writers, yet I was unable to connect to this one.
I usually give a book 30 pages to capture me, gave this one 67.
I usually give a book 30 pages to capture me, gave this one 67.
IN 1931, abandoned after their mother's suicide, the young Junan and her sister, Yinan, make a pact never to leave each other. The two girls are inseparable--until Junan enters into an arranged marriage and makes the mistake of falling in love with her soldier husband. When the Japanese invade China, Junan and her husband are separated. Unable to follow him to the wartime capital, Junan makes the fateful decision to send her sister after him. Set in China and America, against the backdrop of political chaos and social upheaval, the story is narrated by junan's daughter, Hong, its witness, who is haunted by its influence on her own life. "Inheritance traces the echo of betrayal through generations and explores the elusive nature of trust. "Hunger, "a work of gorgeous and enduring prose" "(Washington Post), introduced a writer of considerable talent and promise. "Inheritance, elegant and historically rich, shows this storyteller's remarkable range.
I could not put this book down. It is the story of 2 sisters in China, beginning during the war with Japan. Their mother has committed suicide and the sisters, Junan and Yinan swear to always be together. Junan has an arranged marriage but comes to love her husband, Li Ang, a soldier in the Chinese Army. They become separated when her husband goes off to fight against the Japanese. While China goes through the war with the Japanese, followed by the war between the Nationalists and Communists, there are tensions and betrayals in the lives of the sisters. The story is told by Hong, the daughter of Junan and Li Ang, who is trying to figure out what happened in the past to better understand why her family members are the way they are today. It's a story of betrayal and forgiveness, old China and new China, and what happens when a person doesn't forgive. It is a book of universal themes with a great deal of Chinese history intertwined. Once you start to read it is difficult to put the book down.
This book is in like new condition. Could be given as a gift. I thought it was an interesting story. It has no really big excitement, but it was an enjoyable read.
