Shijun, Shuhui, and Manzhen all work in a factory office in Shanghai. Each day, they go to lunch together and Shijun and Manzhen slowly and sweetly come to acknowledge that they are falling in love. Their romance faces a few minor obstacles that both assume can be surmounted with time. Shijun has to look after his family in Nanking. His mother is the first wife to a successful businessman, Hsaiao-tung, who has all but abandoned the family to be with his second wife. Manzhen also has responsibility to her family. Her older sister, Manlu, worked as a taxi dancer to earn money to send Manzhen to school, but now Manlu is getting married, and Manzhen works multiple jobs so that Manlu’s husband won’t have to support a family that isn’t is. When Manzhen’s brother is old enough to work, she says, she’ll be able to marry Shijun.
This 1948 novel by Eileen Chang and translated by Karen Kingsbury traces Shijun and Manzhen’s courtship through the years of waiting. In parallel, we also see Shuhui develop a flirtatious relationship with Tsuizhi, a cousin of Shijun. In keeping with their less serious natures, Shuhui and Tsuizhi keep their relationship light, never quite committing to each other, but avoiding giving their hearts to anyone else as they are clearly most enamored by each other.
For well over half the novel, the romance between Shijun and Manzhen proceeds with minimal complications. They worry about their families’ reactions to their engagement, but there are no major obstacles in that area. Their families might have chosen differently for them, but they don’t seem inclined to stand in their way. It’s a sweet story about decent young people trying to make their way in the world.
And then it takes a shocking, dark, and wholly unexpected turn. Although Chang drops hints along the way at the tragedy to come, I could never have predicted the turn of events that disrupt Shijun and Manzhen’s plans. I would say that it was too unexpected, but I don’t think it is. I was a little frustrated that one character in particular ended up playing the villain as it plays into too many stereotypes about what it means to be a good woman and what is means to be bad. But I was, frankly, too shocked and upset to analyze. And, in the moment, I believed it.
After this tragic turn, everyone’s plans change. Some find a sort of happiness, and others don’t, but, no matter what happens, there’s always a sense of how things could have been better, and that sense taints what comes after. Things are not as they ought to be.
I’m not sure what, if any, statement Eileen Chang was trying to make about the state of marriage in 1940s China. I don’t know enough about the time and place to put it in context. But I know enough about people to have found this book terribly sad. It’s sad in a good way. It made me feel sorrow for people who didn’t deserve the pain they faced. That sweet and shy love that grew so beautifully at the start didn’t even become half the lifelong romance it should have been.
I received an e-galley of this book for review consideration via Edelweiss.
I read this wonderful review and then immediately bought the book on Amazon!
I hope you enjoy it!
I am reading a nonfiction book about China, one of Peter Hessler’s, and this made me realize but I haven’t read any fiction from China. This might be an interesting place to start.
This may be the only novel from China that I’ve read. My understanding is that Chang is a pretty an important Chinese author, and I did see an adaptation of one of her books, Lust, Caution. I think you’d like this.
This sounds lovely! I’m currently reading the Makioka Sisters and enjoying the slow pace. I’m going to add this one to my wishlist as well. I enjoy this time period of literature.
Makioka Sisters has been on my list for ages. I’ve even gotten it out of the library but haven’t managed to read it yet.
Will have to add this to my library list. You have made me curious to know what happened!
It was sooo upsetting! But I’m not going to spoil it because the surprise is part of what made it affect me so.
Ahhh! It’s hard for me to know if I should pick it up or not when it’s going to be so super sad. But it’s not everyday you get a recommendation for a mid-century Chinese novel either.
It is very sad, but it’s sort of a wistful sadness that involves getting on with things even when it’s difficult.
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