Lu’s prose is unromantic and unadorned, giving the chapters an ascetic, almost nightmarish quality where the protagonist retreads the same topics ... The funeral crier’s observations are matter-of-fact and naïve, profound in their blankness. This may strike some readers as wry and self-deprecating, and the cultural dissonance as purposefully drawn out. But those more familiar with the dogma of rural China may recognize the smallness of thought, life, ambition and self-image as tragic, not humorous.
Lu’s book is a heartwarming story about death, but also life, love and finding hope ... As much as the book deals with death, it equally deals with life and a dysfunctional one at that.
The title character’s wry, sad, and insightful inner voice is the star here. Her meditations on grief, death, love, and duty are full of poetry and longing.
A meditation on family, love, loyalty, and women’s roles in Chinese society. Recommended for readers who enjoy quiet novels about women questioning their life circumstances.
