Note: I had previously wrote a review of this book in December, but it seems to have disappeared. I guess I should probably write my reviews on Google Docs first...
This book of historical fiction takes place in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The main character is attending Minghua University, located in Nanjing. The students are evacuated in anticipation of Japanese occupation of the city (which leads to horrific events not described in this book - other books such as the "The Rape of Nanjing" describe the experiences of the people that were not able to evacuate).
Hu Lian and her classmates are tasked with carrying and protecting The Library of Legends, a collection of Chinese legends written over 500 years ago. With elements of fantasy woven throughout the novel, we learn that a portion of Hu Lian's books are true. She reads about the Willow Star - an immortal woman who fell is love with a human Prince. She protects him lifetime after lifetime in hopes that one day he will remember her so they can live out eternity in the heavens. The Willow Start is actually Sparrow, a servant woman to Liu Shaoming, a wealthy classmate of Hu Lian.
The book is tragic, poetic, and well written. I very much enjoyed the folklore interwoven with the historical fiction, but I actually wish that Chang took it even further. Hu Lian's portion of the library is really the only folklore that we learn about. I wish the legends had consequences; that the student's grew in some way similar to their legend. It's entirely possible that this could have happened within the book, but then the author is assuming a basic knowledge of ancient Chinese legends that I do not have. And, being that the novel was published in the United States, I don't know how many non-Chinese-Americans would be able to recognize any of the legends.
Hu Lian and Liu Shaoming become romantically involved during the later portion of the story, but I was not rooting for them. I found Sparrow to be a much more complex and interesting character, and I thought the legend of the Willow Star and the Prince was more compelling than the romance between Lian and Shao. I also resent that in the novel's conclusion, everything is solved by Shao and Lian falling in love, and Shao's money saves the day. This seems quite outdated to me.
I would definitely recommend reading the book if possible, rather than listening to the audiobook. There are so many "she said" and "he said" phrases throughout this book, and the narrator's narration voice is so different from her character voices that it is very jarring. I almost didn't finish listening to the book because of it.
Also, I love how much Chang describes the food in this book. I wish she had included some recipes in the back of the book. :)
Review by the Numbers
Overall: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Character Development: 2/5
Message: 3/5
Challenges Satisfied:
China (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)
Book about Asian/Middle Eastern Experiences (Diversity Challenge)
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