October 15, 2023
An epic historical novel of communist China, illuminated through the life of an extraordinary real-life woman. More than 700 pages maintain a brisk pace, beginning with the introduction of two young women whose lives will remain connected. One is the protagonist, Sun Yomei. Her classmate, rival, and eventual adversary is Jiang Ching, who warns the younger woman to stay away from a teacher in whom both have some romantic interest. Both are acting students, but the 24-year-old Ching is already more experienced and better established than the 17-year-old Yomei, whom she calls "my little sister." The conniving Ching uses her sexual allure to advance her career and position, ultimately marrying Chairman Mao. The younger woman also rises to prominence, as a pioneering theatrical director. But Yomei remains an innocent, not really grasping that every man she meets seems to fall in love with her (in this novel at least) and why this generates resentment among so many women. She also believes that she can somehow remain free from political entanglement while devoting her life to the theater, an impossibility during the Cultural Revolution. Among the other complications are her adoption into the family of Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, her theatrical training in Moscow, and her brutal encounter with the rapacious Mao. She embarks on a problematic marriage, one that might have made more sense to her in real life than it does in this book. Like its title, the novel can seem overstuffed, filled with incidents and characters that are true to the historical record but don't serve much fictional purpose. The matter-of-fact narrative remains breezy, though the imagined dialogue can sound contrived. It takes decades for Sun Yomei to meet the fate that seems prophesied from the outset. The redemption of a historical figure whose life ended in political disgrace.
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