Primeiros CríticosJanie Chang

From the author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel—the third in a loosely-connected trilogy—in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan. “Myths are the darkest and brightest incarnations of who we are…” China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China’s western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends. Her family’s past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students’ common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow, Lian makes her way to Shanghai, hoping to reunite with her mother. On the journey, Lian learns of the connection between her two companions and a tale from the Library of Legends, The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning Shao and Sparrow’s true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there are broader consequences too, for as the ancient books travel across China, they awaken immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own, one that changes the country’s fate forever. Based on true events, rich in Chinese history and lore, The Library of Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China’s recent past and an evocative tale of love, sacrifice, and the extraordinary power of storytelling.

From the author of Three Souls comes a vividly imagined and haunting new novel set in early 20th century Shanghai—a story of friendship, heartbreak, and history that follows a young Eurasian orphan’s search for her long-lost mother.

In 1935 China, the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin watches her own funeral from above, wondering why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are her three souls—stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun—who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends . . . Her souls travel back through the years with her, behind the magnificent gates of the Song family estate. Outside, China is fractured by civil war and social change. However, none of the upheaval has touched Leiyin, a spoiled and idealistic teenager. When Leiyin meets the captivating left-wing poet Hanchin, she defies her father and learns a harsh truth: she is powerless to dictate her fate. Her punishment for disobedience leads to exile from her family, an unwanted marriage, a lover’s betrayal—and, ultimately, her death. Now a ghost, Leiyin must make amends, but when her seven-year-old daughter—the sole mourner at Leiyin’s funeral—is put in danger, Leiyin is forced to make a heart-wrenching choice. Richly infused with the rituals, sights, and sounds of early 20th-century China, Janie Chang’s engaging narrative of a woman’s quest to realize her destiny is a one-of-a-kind debut novel: moving, insightful, and wholly original.