The Tent of Orange Mist
From AwardAnnals
| Book: | The Tent of Orange Mist: A Novel |
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| Author: | Paul West |
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| Publisher: | Overlook Press |
Against a backdrop of burning buildings and random atrocities stands Scald Ibis, the teenage daughter of an eminent scholar, who must transform herself completely in order to survive. With her family gone, she is forced to work as a prostitute in a bordello, changing slowly and painfully from a girl into a woman. Her fortunes improve when a Japanese warlord, Hayashi, takes a fancy to her; but her greatest challenge comes with the sudden appearance of her ailing father, whose inner demons threaten both of their lives.
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Reviews
Amazon.com
Paul West deftly illuminates the plight of intellectuals and artists during the Japanese occupation of China in this story of a young woman who must transform herself completely in order to survive. Scald Ibis, the properly-reared daughter of a Chinese scholar, is forced to work as a prostitute in a bordello as she changes slowly and painfully from girl to woman. When her father reappears in her life, she must deal with his inner demons as well as her own. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.
