Description
Book SynopsisIn 1972, Jan Wong became one of only two Westerners admitted to Beijing University at the height of the Cultural Revolution. One day, a student, Yin Luoyi, sought Jan's assistance in going to the United States. Wong, then a starry-eyed Maoist, reported Yin to the authorities. Yin promptly disappeared.
Now, thirty-three years later, Wong returns to Beijing to search for the woman who has haunted her conscience. She hopes to apologise, perhaps somehow to try to make amends. At the very least, she wants to find out whether Yin has survived. Preoccupied by the past, fascinated by China's present and future, Jan Wong searches out old friends, foes and comrades in this half-familiar city, finally uncovering the truth about the woman she wronged. Chinese Whispers tells a unique and unforgettable story of communism and capitalism, of guilt and atonement, of remembering and forgetting.
Trade Review"'Wong is a beautiful writer. Her gift is both to greet the country with enthusiasm and curiosity but also to interrogate the back story. Her tale of trying to find Yin is not just the story of a search for an old acquaintance, but also an insight into how China is dealing with its own past... Gripping and entertaining.' Rosie Blau, Financial Times 'Funny and irreverent... The candid, beguiling style is hugely entertaining' Conor O'Clery, Irish Times" 'A witty, clever and knowingly light-hearted take on betrayal and redemption; a feel good penance.' Daily Mail
