THE IMMORTAL WOMAN

Chang’s character-driven novel chronicles strikingly different eras in the East and West.

In the late 1960s, Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China is in full swing. It has a particular impact on a young woman named Lemei; she loves reading, but by 1967 certain books are no longer acceptable. When her teacher is arrested for being a “true People’s Enemy,” it is clear that things are only going to get worse. But even as events threaten Lemei’s family, she manages to survive (as a Red Guard leader, no less), and she later becomes a newspaper reporter (who is only allowed to print what the party wants). In the 2000s, Lemei’s daughter, Lin, heads to California for college. Although Lin’s English is excellent, she still struggles with things like idioms and finds “Her new tongue could never catch up with her thoughts.” Idioms will prove to be just one of her challenges as she adjusts to a different culture. Though Lin majors in math, she decides she wants to be a writer, and, much to her mother’s horror, she expresses her desire to join an experimental theater group in Toronto. Lemei, Lin, and their respective struggles are just a portion of this expansive narrative: From Lemei working in China as a reporter in 1989, to Lin trying to process her roommate’s penchant for group sex, to a Russian man’s immigrant story in Canada, the characters all have compelling stories to tell. The intricate plot keeps the novel moving along with some punchy, even funny prose despite the heavy subject matter. (For instance, when Lin sees her polyamorous roommate approaching like “a wild manga spirit,” she runs the other way, “as if the moral corruption were airborne and contagious.”) Although some unnecessary dialogue prolongs the story, this is an accessible tale about enticingly complex individuals.

An inviting, intimate look at ordinary people living through times of momentous change.