There is Leiyin’s Stepmother, not in the position of the first wife and has not birthed a son, but maintained a good position and respect in the household through her own capabilities.
One who is married and the other to be bethroled. There are her two beautiful older sisters, Gaoyin and Suyin. Three Souls doesn’t just tell Leiyin’s narrative. A life of her own and a romantic partner of her own choosing. When Yen Hanchin, a handsome, well-learned Communist enters into her life, he represents everything she cannot have. Leiyin’s dreams of an independent life, one which she could actively contribute to society, was impossible. Yet, in her father’s eyes: what use is higher education if high school was enough to gain good marriage prospects? Leiyin had all the credentials to enter university and even gained a full scholarship.
My heart broke at the number of opportunities prevented from reaching her.
Yet her life is not her own- from birth, her life is her father’s and through marriage, her life is her husband’s. One who is experiencing her first love, full of hope and ambition for her own life. Of all the possible protagonists, such as the passionate communist or the wayward rich son or an influential figure, the novel chooses a rich, rebellious, and reckless teenager: Leiyin. For me, this novel explored womanhood in China back in the days. A really strong debut, I would definitely read her next book. It may seem like a slow paced story, but it was so gripping, I was kept at the edge of my side the whole time and finished the book in two sittings. I loved the writing, the setting, the descriptions of the manors, the characters, the character dynamic, and the family. Leiyin is from a rich patriarchal family who has firm Nationalist roots. The book is set China during the chaotic clash between the Nationalist and the Communist. Too long in the mortal world as a ghost, and she might become a hungry ghost, stripped of her humanity and cursed to wander aimlessly in the mortal world. She learns that she has to atone for something she had done in her lifetime in order to enter afterlife. When Leiyin dies, her ghost and her three souls, yin, yang, hun were unable to proceed to afterlife.
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