Gorgeous, Lavish, And Epic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    It used to be, when an epic novel appeared that was so compelling, it would  automatically be compared to "Gone With The Wind."  I don't know how acceptable that is in today's world, and, after all, what care I for social conventions, just like Scarlett?  So, I am going out on a limb by saying that, girls, you must read this,  It is the Beijing "Gone With The Wind."  To be fair to the times, however, Madeline Thien avoids the racial stereotyping that many detractors find in the Margaret Mitchell novel, and that are even present in Pearl S. Buck's, still noteworthy "The Good Earth."

                                     And it she does it all in less than 500 pages.  Four hundred sixty six, to be exact.  But each packs a wallop!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    How to describe this book?  It is structured like a Chinese puzzle, a series of stories within stories within stories, within....  Imagine looking into infinity at a Land O' Lakes butter cover, and that is what you get here.

                                      Two families, one in Canada, the other in China, are torn apart by the political regime, and their love of music.  References to other cultural works of literature abound, but music is what binds all these characters together.  And leads, in some cases to destruction, like Jiang Kai and
Zhuli.  But they are balanced by Marie and Ai-Ming, Big Mother Knife, indisputably the "Aunt Pittypat" of the piece, and Wen The Dreamer, and his wife, Swirl, sister of Big Mother Knife. These are true survivors.

                                         The novel takes these characters through seven decades of social upheaval, including all the troubles surrounding Tianamen Square, the rise of Communism, and Chairman Mao.  I am telling you, I sat in a chair spellbound, for three days, unable to tear myself away from the scope and poetic beauty of this masterful piece of fiction.

                                          Having longed for a good piece of fiction for awhile, now, I can report this is one to sink into.  Had I read it, when it first came out, in 2016, it would certainly have made my Ten Best List.  But this is the best piece of fiction--or one of them--you will read this year, no matter the year it was first published.

                                           You will not soon forget this moving novel by Madeleine Thien.

                                            Now, I want to read some of her other work!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            Keep writing, Maddie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!