For fans of Chinese literature and the myth of Chinese glamour, "Nanjing 1937" is a treasure.
Carolyn See Washington Post Ye paints a rich tableau of prewar Chinese politics and social mores. The contrast between the advance of the Japanese and Ding's slow seduction of Ren is both poignant and deliciously ironic. Publishers Weekly A moving and fascinating account ... Read moreof tragic love, narrated with a minimum of sentimentality and a good sense of history well captured in the fluid, unobtrusive translation. Kirkus Ye Zhaoyan has managed to capture and communicate a broad spectrum of passionate emotions that transcend the cultural divide between East and West. Booklist Nanjing1937 is an interliterary feast, with significant motifs of the great wartime novelists Qian Zhongshu, Eileen Chang, and Ba Jin, plus Doctorow-like cameos of real 1930's Chinese celebrities. Berry renders the novel in a bright American idiom and provides expert glosses for all the historical figures in an index. Choice Ye Zhaoyan's story has the sweep of a great saga. Nanjing 1937 is a fascinating glimpse into Chinese culture and society. Historical Novels Review Ye's novel does succeed in painting an evocative picture of China's capital on the eve of the Japanese onslaught. The reimagining of life in Republican China has been a major concern in contemporary Chinese fiction, and to this body of work Nanjing 1937 is a distinctive addition. Persimmon Show Less