The winner of the 1999 US National Book Award for Fiction, a poignant and deliciously funny love story, set in China during and after the Cultural Revolution.
For more than seventeen years, Lin Kong, a devoted and ambitious doctor, has been in love with an educated, clever, modern woman, Manna Wu. Every summer, he returns to ask her for a divorce and every summer his compliant wife agrees but then backs out.For more than seventeen years, Lin Kong, a devoted and ambitious doctor, has been in love with an educated, clever, modern woman, Manna Wu. But back in his traditional home village lives the humble, loyal wife his family chose for him years ago. Every summer, he returns to ask her for a divorce and every summer his compliant wife agrees but then backs out. This time, after eighteen years' waiting, Lin promises it will be different.
Beautiful and compelling * Daily Mail *
Dreamy and beautifully written... Reading it will take you into a different world altogether * Marie Claire *
A deliciously comic novel * The Times *
Imagine if Romeo and Juliet had been made to stretch out their passion for 18 years, without consummating their love. Now imagine them in China during the crazy bureaucracy of Mao's Cultural Revolution, unable to talk in private let alone kiss...the insights into Chinese culture and the complexities of human longing are beautiful and compelling * Daily Mail *
A classic folktale...an extraordinary novel * Independent *
- Winner of US National Book Award for Fiction 1999
- Short-listed for Irish Times Literary Prize,International Fiction 2001
ISBN: 9780099287599
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 19mm
Weight: 223g
320 pages