Clever. Heart Warming. Brutal. This new English translation of Zhang Ling’s unforgettable novel will have you on the edge of your seat. Here is my book review A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling.

When Emperor Hirohito announces Japan’s surrender to the Allies, three men make a pact, agreeing that after thier deaths their souls will return to this Chinese village each year. The village is where they have met, fought and befriended each other.

But it takes seventy years before all three will find themselves together again, their souls converging on the tiny Chinese village where their story began. An American missionary, a gunner and a local Chinese soldier. How these three men from very different backgrounds will touch each other’s lives is a remarkable journey.

And of course there is a girl. Her name is Ah Yan also called Swallow. Her profound impression on the three men in unique and very different ways will change her life, and the lives of each man.

The best part of this remarkable book for me is the telling. Ling’s beautiful writing narrates in the voice of each man from beyond the grave…a unique telling of the story as each man looks back on his life and the impact Ah Yan has on it. I hope you enjoyed my book review A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling.

Remarkable book and beautifully written and translated.

*****Five stars for A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling

Read last week’s review of Unsettled Ground.

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