Three Souls

Despite being narrated by the ghost of a recently deceased young woman, I wouldn't call this a ghost story. It's a historical novel set during the political upheaval of revolutionary China in the 1920s-30s. Song Leiyin, the third daughter of a prominent family, watches her funeral as a ghost, unable to move on to the afterlife or to remember how she died. She is told by the manifestations of her three souls that she can't move on to the afterlife until she atones for the sins of her mortal life. Unable to remember what these sins were, Leiyin accompanied by her souls begins to relive her memories to find out what she needs to do, reflecting on the decisions, events and consequences of her life. This unusual way of presenting a story is effective, intriguing and thoughtful.

In my opinion, what makes a good historical novel is its sense of place. And the sense of place here is exquisite. This is a time of great change. Old and new values are in constant conflict. Leiyin is from a very traditional family, where women are expected to obediently follow the roles of daughter, wife and mother. As a young girl, Leiyin has very different ideas for her future, dreaming of continuing her education at university and becoming a teacher. We observe, along with Leiyin's ghost self, as she attempts to break these social constraints, for both right and wrong reasons. The reflective element of the narration demonstrates that although Leiyin is rightly frustrated at her lack of control over her life, her rebellion had consequences that she could never have imagined.

I guessed pretty much all of the “twists” in the plot and I suppose this shows that many of the consequences of Leiyin's actions were quite predictable. This is not necessarily a criticism of the book, however, as I think demonstrates how Leiyin as a naive young girl was so desperate for life to turn out exactly as she wanted that she could see the reality right in front of her. Something I think we are all guilty of. By the time she dies, Leiyin has developed into a mature, strong woman and can now accept the truth. By looking back, she can understand her life in a way she never did at the time and appreciate both the unfairness of her situation, as well as the fact that her life wasn't all bad and that she had a lot to be thankful for. This is something she was never able to appreciate while alive.

Although Leiyin's three souls (yin, yang and hun) have distinct personalities and opinions, I did feel this concept could have been built on further, or at least given more context. The three souls didn't feel like fully fleshed characters themselves (which I guess is hard to do for three non-entities..) and so I found myself a lot more interested in Leiyin's views on her life and the moral dilemmas she faces.

This is an excellent debut, one I first debated giving either 4 or 5 stars, but in the end had to bump up a star. I'm still thinking about it. Even if some very small parts of the novel that aren't quite as strong as the rest, I am still thinking about it books later. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to lovers of historical fiction.