Beautiful as Yesterday

Author: Fan Wu
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Price: $35.95

Beautiful, but bloodless

Beautiful as Yesterday is the second novel from Chinese author Fan Wu. It follows a Chinese mother and her two daughters across generations and continents, between past and present exploring their relationships and investigating how the historical events of China have fragmented and affected them. The premise is good but unfortunately the finished product is more than a little lacklustre.

Wang Fenglan is the widowed mother, who still resides in China. Mary Chang is her eldest daughter who lives in California with her husband and son. Her younger daughter Ingrid, is estranged from her older sister, and lives a bohemian life in New York City.

When Mary flys her mother to California for a prolonged visit the three women are forced to work on their strained relationships created by events of the past, a past they thought they had left behind. There are six years between Mary and Ingrid and these six years dictate how these women experienced their lives in China. Mary remembers the difficult times of the Cultural Revolution, whereas Ingrid’s past is coloured by being a survivor of the Tianamen Square massacre.

The first few chapters are intriguing enough to consider dedicating time to find out what is going to happen but nothing really happens. There are a few scenes that have you holding your breath and the parts in between work hard to hold your interest but fail. The excessive description of scenes and events that do not affect the story becomes tedious. The character development is virtually non-existent and by the time the final page has been turned there is no connection felt with these women and a certain lack of interest in knowing what will happen to them.

The silver lining - the history element is strong and if anything you will walk away with a new found understanding of the monumental effect of some of the more recent events in Chinese history.

Lisa O'Donnell