China, 1935. A country fractured by civil war and social change.
The ghost of a young woman named Leiyin watches her own funeral, wondering why she has been denied entry to the afterlife. She is joined by her stern, scholarly yang soul, her impulsive, romantic yin soul, and her wise, shining hun soul. Together they must discover how she can leave this earth.
They travel back in time to the day her life changed. When Leiyin meets the charismatic revolutionary poet Hanchin, she soon discovers how completely her life is controlled by her traditional father. She experiences exile, an unwanted marriage, betrayal, and the terrible consequences of an act of revenge.
The ghost of Leiyin must now make amends to gain entrance to the afterlife.
Richly infused with the rituals, sights and sounds of early 20th century China, Three Souls tells the compelling story of one woman's quest to realize her destiny. Here is a unique debut novel: moving, compulsively readable and wholly original.
Review
Critical Praise for *Three Souls "In this highly original, capriciously imagined tale, Song Leiyin journeys to the afterlife in the company of three guiding souls. As her life in tumultuous 1920s China is recounted, readers are treated to a deft examination of the woe and splendour of family and the human heart. - CATHY MARIE BUCHANAN, author of The Painted Girls and The Day the Falls Stood Still "Compelling and utterly original. Janie Chang's riveting debut gives us so much: a complex heroine, a window into the vanished world of pre-Communist China, a fascinating plot and language that sings. An intoxicating story of family, ambition and the risks we take for love." --TARA CONKLIN author of The House Girl
"A tour de force. Evocative of Lisa See at her best, Three Souls vividly conjures life in pre-Mao China and runs the emotional gamut from playful to haunting. This original story and its sympathetic heroine will stay with you long after the final pages." - DAN KALLA, author of Rising Sun, Falling Shadow and The Far Side of the Sky "I found it so compelling, I absolutely couldn't put it down. . . .One of the most satisfying, enjoyable and interesting books I've read in a while." -- NANCY RICHLER, author of The Imposter Bride and Your Mouth is Lovely
"It is a triumph. There is so much magic here, such generous imagining. The prose sings while the story is told in surging crescendo that makes us race to know what happens." -- BEVERLY SWERLING, author of Bristol House, City of Dreams*
Description:
China, 1935. A country fractured by civil war and social change.
The ghost of a young woman named Leiyin watches her own funeral, wondering why she has been denied entry to the afterlife. She is joined by her stern, scholarly yang soul, her impulsive, romantic yin soul, and her wise, shining hun soul. Together they must discover how she can leave this earth.
They travel back in time to the day her life changed. When Leiyin meets the charismatic revolutionary poet Hanchin, she soon discovers how completely her life is controlled by her traditional father. She experiences exile, an unwanted marriage, betrayal, and the terrible consequences of an act of revenge.
The ghost of Leiyin must now make amends to gain entrance to the afterlife.
Richly infused with the rituals, sights and sounds of early 20th century China, Three Souls tells the compelling story of one woman's quest to realize her destiny. Here is a unique debut novel: moving, compulsively readable and wholly original.
Review
Critical Praise for *Three Souls "In this highly original, capriciously imagined tale, Song Leiyin journeys to the afterlife in the company of three guiding souls. As her life in tumultuous 1920s China is recounted, readers are treated to a deft examination of the woe and splendour of family and the human heart. - CATHY MARIE BUCHANAN, author of The Painted Girls and The Day the Falls Stood Still
"Compelling and utterly original. Janie Chang's riveting debut gives us so much: a complex heroine, a window into the vanished world of pre-Communist China, a fascinating plot and language that sings. An intoxicating story of family, ambition and the risks we take for love." --TARA CONKLIN author of The House Girl
"A tour de force. Evocative of Lisa See at her best, Three Souls vividly conjures life in pre-Mao China and runs the emotional gamut from playful to haunting. This original story and its sympathetic heroine will stay with you long after the final pages." - DAN KALLA, author of Rising Sun, Falling Shadow and The Far Side of the Sky
"I found it so compelling, I absolutely couldn't put it down. . . .One of the most satisfying, enjoyable and interesting books I've read in a while." -- NANCY RICHLER, author of The Imposter Bride and Your Mouth is Lovely
"It is a triumph. There is so much magic here, such generous imagining. The prose sings while the story is told in surging crescendo that makes us race to know what happens." -- BEVERLY SWERLING, author of Bristol House, City of Dreams*