Old Town

Lin Zhe, one of China’s most prolific writers, paints an unforgettable
picture of an ordinary family caught up in the maelstrom that was China’s
most recent century. Her narrative ranges across the entire length of China,
to California and back again, to the battlefields of the Anti-Japanese War of
Resistance and the brutal struggle sessions of the Cultural Revolution. But
it always returns to this family’s home in Old Town, that archetypical, old- fashioned, and vanishing place steeped in the traditions of South China. Ms.
Lin examines the inner strength that sustains people’s lives in their darkest
hours, when religious and political faith falter. And yet, a vein of irony
and droll humor runs through this powerful story. Lin Zhe’s novel may be
understood as a love story, memoir, history, or allegory. For the non-Chinese
reader it provides a rare and moving insight into Chinese lives in a century
of fearsome upheaval. This book was originally published under the title
Riddles of Belief…and Love - A Story.