红粉 [Hong Fen]

Su Tong (Raise the Red Lantern) has been portraying Chinese women in his novels because their lives are more dramatic, more complex, and more literary, as he has observed. In this collection of four short novellas, Su Tong again portrays two 1950 era prostitutes in "Best friends," four generations of women living in the 1930's to 1980's China in "Women's lives"; a would-be young writer who likes the carefree single's life yet longs for a steady relationship and a family in "Why girls cry"; and a 14-year-old teenage boy's observation of the affairs and resulting tragedies of his brother, father, and their respective lovers in "Shu nong." In Chinese. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.