City of Fiction
In early 20th-century China, Lin Xiangfu appears in the town of Xizhen carrying his young daughter and begging nursing mothers in the town for a bit of their milk to feed her. This stranger seeks the mother of his child, the mysterious Xiaomei, who married him, gave birth to his child, and then vanished from his farm located across the Yellow River and over a thousand li away to the north. Lin Xiangfu finds friends and builds a life as a woodworker in this southern town, but history comes knocking on the town walls of Xizhen. The story of his search and the life of the woman he seeks weave together in this tale set against the breakdown of the Qing dynasty, the lawlessness that followed, and the establishment of the Chinese republic.
This novel swept me away; I was enraptured. It is a story to savor, beautifully told. The author’s style feels somewhat dreamlike; the narrative, despite a deceptive simplicity, is poetic and compelling. The translation appears deft and capable, and although I am not a Chinese speaker, the cadence and flavor seemed true. I knew very little of the period. The brutal violence and lawlessness of the changing times present a stark contrast to the emotions and day-to-day lives of Lin Xiangfu and his companions as they struggle to survive the larger forces around them and live their lives with grace, integrity, and dignity. Highly recommended, this is a novel that will linger in one’s psyche long after one has read it.
