Love on a Barren Mountain

By Wang Anyi
Translated by Eva Hung
1991;1992
xiii + 145 pages
ISBN 962-7255-09-2

This second volume of the Love Trilogy, like the first, is based on real events the author observed during the Cultural Revolution and her days of manual labour in the countryside. Wang takes the basic facts of this tragic tale of extra-marital love and develops them into a tale of universal power.

With her rare insight and great descriptive powers, she reveals the way in which, in a restrictive society, the power of love can turn destructive.

'I think she has interesting things to say about relationships between men and women, and anyone familiar with the Chinese literary scene over the past few years will quickly realize how courageous she is to have tackled this subject so honestly and openly.'