From Library Journal
It appears that the author of K could not be happier that peopleare talking about the sexually explicit nature of herwriting-touted as a Chinese Lady Chatterly's Lover-expressing herpleasure in the lengthy foreword: "So to all you readers who seethe erotic in K, I congratulate you on your luck." Hong writes ofthe illicit love affair between young Julian Bell, son of Vanessaand nephew of Virginia Woolf, and Lin Cheng, then the wife of acollege dean who is Julian's employer in China. Grabbing thefreedom to blend fact with fiction, Hong imagines, quite vividly,all the angst, guilt, and eroticism involved in the taboo unionbetween a "respectable" Chinese woman and a "foreign devil." Setagainst the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of China and all itsattendant horror, the book conveys a vivid sense of the disparitiesbetween sensibilities both emotional and physical. This is a fastand interesting read that will not disappoint those looking for yetanother literary work alluding to the Bloomsbury group. Recommendedfor all libraries. [The daughter of Ling Shuhua, on whom Lin Chengis based, has brought suit against this book in China, claimingthat it defames her mother. Hong Ying currently lives inLondon.-Ed.]-Michelle Reale, Elkins Park, P.
--Michelle Reale, Elkins Park, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refersto an alternate Paperback edition.