Synopsis "Twin Sisters (in English)"
The events in "Twin Sisters" take place during the Cultural Revolution in northern China, 1966-1976. The time frame is not limited to those ten years; the author takes the reader back more than thirty years to the war against the Japanese occupation when different visions prevailed in revealing the setting for the love life of the characters.The author relates the love lives of four related women revealing different loyalties: Red guard Yong Hong, during the revolution insulted her mother's name, joined a revolutionary group to fight the establishment, and following party dictate, entered unwillingly into marriage with a disabled army veteran, and had a stormy affair with a serving army officer, and eventually was convicted of murder and sent to prison.Yong Hong's twin sister, Ying Li, in an attempt to get her mother out of jail, had given her virginity to an army guard, knowing that it would ruin her life and reputation.LuDongChun, the twin sisters mother had joined the national revolution during China's war for independence long before the Cultural Revolution, and after being forced to step down as mayor, she still believed in the party and did not complain.Yu Lian was a woman guard in the party, who out of blind loyally, reported her husband's thoughts to the party in a misguided attempt to help him, that ended with him going to jail, and caused her to regret her action the rest of her life, until she committed suicide.The authors' description of characters is superb; a kind person who was also depraved: how an army guard lied to YingLi, and defiled her, and how Yong Hong, with her high revolutionary position, became an unfaithful wife, and had a disastrous relationship with an army officer who had married for position, and power. .Part of this book originally written in Chinese was posted on a website, and gathered a lot reader's reviews; among them a reader said:Yang Yang's Twin Sisters is a rare book in the world of the emotional; and WeiHong Liu, a play wright in New York said: "Reading twin sisters, was an outstanding emotional experience, the plot is very cleverly constructed, a very unique story. An excellent work.
