Falling red,

Author: Wang Xinli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: A tragic and melancholic love story; A poignant and sorrowful scroll of the mortal world. The novel unfolds its plot against the backdrop of Shanghai, Nanjing, small towns in Jiangnan, and rural areas of Jiangnan, depicting the social life of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as the love stories between men and women. Mu Xuyuan, a merchant in the foreign goods trade, loses his wife early in life and leaves behind two beautiful daughters and a chronically ill son. After his son passes away, he suddenly feels the panic of having no heir and engages in a sexual relationship with his sixteen-year-old adopted daughter, Yi Ren, hoping to continue his lineage. In the summer, Mu Xuyuan takes his two daughters, who study at a church school in Shanghai, to his countryside estate for a vacation. On a stormy night, the sensitive eldest daughter, Yu Mei, discovers her father in bed with the housemaid, He Ma. On a sunset evening, the younger daughter, Yu Wu, loses her virginity beneath a weeping willow tree to the charming and roguish Ke Yuan. Written by a contemporary female author, the work employs a narrative style that is both traditional and unconventional; its prose is delicate and rich in color, yet neither overtly erotic nor purely sensational. The story is full of twists and turns, with a plot that is enigmatic and captivating. It is a delightful novel that equally embodies literary and artistic value.