Butterfly Lovers (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780966542141)

Based on the Chinese folk tale 'Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai', this romantic tragedy portrays 'Romeo and Juliet' from a distinctly Chinese angle, with its two star-crossed lovers facing the obstacle of a class-based arranged marriage and the archaic idea that 'a virtuous woman is one without any talent.' Their fateful convergence begins as the heroine, Yingtai, escapes from her imprisonment in a home where she is not valued and disguises herself as a man, only to fall passionately in love with Shanbo, the poor young scholar she comes to live and study with while she is in disguise. Yingtai's family is not at war with Shanbo's; rather, it does not recognise its existence. Traversing class and gender expectations, Yingtai and Shanbo spiral toward the inevitable consequences of a life so much at odds with tradition.

Author: Fan Dai
ISBN-10: 0966542142
ISBN-13: 9780966542141
Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books
Language: English
Published: 09/05/2000
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.51h x 5.54w x 0.75d

Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 09/01/2000 pg. 258
School Library Journal 08/24/2000