A Hundred Flowers

June 18, 2012
Tsukiyama’s new novel takes place in 1958 and its title comes from Chairman Mao’s 1957 declaration of openness: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” What actually blooms is fear and confusion, when university professor and intellectual Sheng Ying is taken by the police to a re-education camp, leaving his wife, Kai Ying, son Tao, aunt Song, and father Wei, also a professor, to make sense of his fate. To protect Tao, his mother tells him that his father is away working, but when the boy is teased at school about it, he demands to know the truth, forcing Wei to admit his role in Sheng’s arrest and creating a rift in the fragile family. Wracked with guilt, Wei goes in search of his son, hoping to put his family’s life back together. Tsukiyama (Women of the Silk) adopts the contemporary template of multiple perspective narration to explore the relationships of a close family in a closed society. Though complex human beings fail to emerge from the facade of stock voices, the tenderness the author shows for her characters creates a sympathetic portrait of intellectuals trying to live honestly in the shadow of oppression. Agent: Linda Allen.

Starred review from August 27, 2012
The year is 1957, and China is very much a land unfriendly to intellectuals and artists of any kind. A teacher named Sheng is sent to a prison camp for writing a letter critical of the Communist Party, leaving his wife to raise a young child who can't understand why his father has disappeared, until a tragic accident changes everything. Tsukiyama's tale of love, loss, and courage is brought to life by Simon Vance. Narrating in a soft, straightforward tone, Vance is understated but renders the characters well. With only minor shifts in tone and dialect, Vance creates well-rounded, and believable characters without even remotely attempting to tackle a Chinese accent. The result is brilliantly realized listening that will have listeners enthralled from start to finish. A St. Martin's hardcover.