"I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved
to passion; in autumn only regret."
For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these
lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the
garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green
tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes
from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen.
Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of
a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a
bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has
dreams of her own.
Peony's mother is against her daughter's attending the production:
"Unmarried girls should not be seen in public." But Peony's father
assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the
women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its
cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair
as black as a cave-and is immediately overcome with emotion.
So begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire
and sorrow-as Lisa See's haunting new novel, based on actual
historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China,
after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.
Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another
time and place-even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its
protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined
place where one's soul is divided into three, ancestors offer
guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the
earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of
the afterlife, transcending even death, "Peony in Love" explores,
beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa
See's new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of
friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to
be heard.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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