{"id":17401,"date":"2012-06-15T12:12:22","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T16:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=17401"},"modified":"2015-08-17T09:56:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T13:56:00","slug":"the-red-chamber-by-pauline-a-chen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-red-chamber-by-pauline-a-chen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen [in Library Journal]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red<\/a>The 2,500-page, 18th-century classic, Dream of the Red Chamber<\/em> by Cao Xueqin, is regarded as China\u2019s most important work of fiction. Pauline A. Chen<\/a> (Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas<\/a>,<\/em> for middle-grade readers) tackles the daunting task of adapting the revered original text, and her literary bravado engenders a stunning success.<\/p>\n

Chen chooses three women to tell the story of the prominent Jia family: controlling granddaughter-in-law Xifeng, dutiful cousin-by-marriage Baochai, and naive granddaughter Daiyu \u2013 the only Jia by blood \u2013 who enters the sprawling ancestral compound after a two-generation estrangement. Chen well realizes \u201c[a] woman doesn\u2019t have any choices in life\u201d in 18th-century Beijing with her future determined by family to be a wife, concubine, or serving slave, and thus imbues these women with rich inner lives.<\/p>\n

Verdict<\/strong>: Fans of historical fiction who appreciate resonant details, unexpected intrigue, and multigenerational plotting will find this work irresistible. With just the right blend of highbrow literary (Chen\u2019s pedigree includes Harvard, Yale Law, and a Princeton PhD in Chinese literature) and guilty summer pulp, Chen just might put this 18th-century classic on 21st-century bestseller lists.<\/p>\n

Review<\/strong>: “Fiction,” Library Journal<\/em>, June 15, 2012<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2,500-page, 18th-century classic, Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, is regarded as China\u2019s most important work of fiction. Pauline A. Chen (Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas, for middle-grade readers) tackles the daunting task of adapting the revered original text, and her literary…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,67,21,6,6535,185],"tags":[84,6608,58,10,149,24,70,13,183,28,184,41],"class_list":["post-17401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-chinese","category-chinese-american","category-fiction","category-repost","category-taiwanese-american","tag-betrayal","tag-bookdragon","tag-coming-of-age","tag-family","tag-gender-inequality","tag-historical","tag-library-journal","tag-love","tag-pauline-a-chen","tag-politics","tag-red-chamber","tag-royalty"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Red Chamber by Pauline A. 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