WAN-FU: TEN THOUSAND HAPPINESSES

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1957

A story of poverty and deprivation which is at first completely unrelieved shows a remarkable knowledge of slum living in China near Tientsin, presumably in pre-Communist days. Wan-Fu (who before she got her name was called One Leg because of an accident that left her crippled) lives with her parents outside the city, but goes to town every day as a guide for her blind father who begs. Crossing the bridge she often sees healthy school girls and wishes she could be one of them but in her life the vicious circle of want leading to inability leading to more want is in full operation. Indeed were it not for its completion, Wan-Fu would never have had her chance. Her mother sickens and dies. Her father is killed in a carriage accident which only injures Wan-Fu. Taken to a hospital she is given her chance for survival when the wealthy lady, whose chauffeur had caused the accident, offers to pay for an operation on her bad leg. It succeeds. New health, and new faith through the Christian nurses at the hospital, at last enable Wan-Fu to be one of the school girls she had admired. At times compellingly realistic, over and above the fortuitous chain of events.

Pub Date: April 1, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Longmans, Green

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION