Half a Lifelong Romance [Paperback]

Shanghai, 1930s. Shen Shijun, a young engineer, has fallen in love with his colleague, the beautiful Gu Manzhen. He is determined to resist his family’s efforts to match him with his wealthy cousin so that he can marry her. But dark circumstances—a lustful brother-in-law, a treacherous sister, a family secret—force the two young lovers apart.

As Manzhen and Shijun go on their separate paths, they lose track of one another, and their lives become filled with feints and schemes, missed connections and tragic misunderstandings. At every turn, societal expectations seem to thwart their prospects for happiness. Still, Manzhen and Shijun dare to hold out hope—however slim—that they might one day meet again. A glamorous, wrenching tale set against the glittering backdrop of an extraordinary city,Half a Lifelong Romanceis a beloved classic from one of the essential writers of twentieth-century China.“The most mature and fully achieved novel by midcentury writer Eileen Chang, whose work was beloved by readers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, yet banned in mainland China until the 1990s. . . . A small masterpiece of understatement and indirection. It has a grave tenderness, alert to the manners and gestures of bourgeois family life, almost reminiscent of Henry James or Edith Wharton. It’s an excellent introduction to the complex work of an underappreciated writer.” —The New York Times Book Review

“An enveloping, haunting and insightful read, rich in Chang’s trademark passionate prose.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Half a Lifelong Romanceis broad in its scope and exceptionally moving in its characterizations, painting a picture of life in China in the 1930s. . . . Chang’s legacy as one of the most important Chinese writers of the 20th century is fully realized in this work. . . . Chang’s characters’ tragic yet sometimes comical attempts tolc(