Book Review: The Library of Legends by Janie Chang

The Library of Legends by Janie Chang
Length: 400 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Trigger Warnings in this book for Death, Torture, and a Suicide Attempt

"That night Lian dreamed there was a procession on the street below. She stood on the balcony watching it go by. The Shanghai City God was leaving and the entire city had turned out to mourn his departure. Dressed in the court robes of a high-ranking Ming Dynasty official, his long black beard hung down to his belt and beaded strings of jade and coral hung from his hat. He sat in a magnificent sedan chair carried by giants. There was music, flutes and drums, cymbals and horns.
And in the entourage walking behind the City God, she recognized Sparrow."

I chose this as my Book of the Month for January, though it was originally published in May of last year. It was an add-on choice, and it sounded so interesting, and boasted a beautiful cover, too.

Set in China in 1937, during the Second-Sino Japanese War, which is considered to be the start of WWII for China, we follow the students of Minghua college, who are fleeing Nanking from the impending threat of Japanese occupation. Walking 1,000 miles to the relative safety of the western provinces, it is a journey filled with hardship, with hunger and disease, exhaustion, and sometimes, death. Each student has been tasked by the wise Professor Kang with transporting one book from the invaluable "Library of Legends", a collection of 500-year-old folklore, legends and myths put together by the scholar Yao Guangshu, on their person.

Among them is Hu Lian, a scholarship student who is reserved and intelligent, but also incredibly cautious of letting anyone in. All her life she has been hiding, moving constantly with her mother in the hopes of outrunning a tragedy from their past, one that Lian fears would have horrible consequences if found out. But when a teacher, Mr. Lee, threatens to expose her if she doesn't spy on the vocal communists of their group, she feels she has no option but to obey.

Shao is from an affluent Shanghai family, and is handsome, charismatic, and loved by two different women, one of them being Hu Lian, the other, his loyal servant, Sparrow. Life has been easy for him, but still he feels unmoored, left to drown in an ocean that is made up of purposelessness.

And, perhaps most important of all, is Sparrow. Little does anyone know, she is a celestial being, an immortal who has chosen to live her life on Earth. She is the Willow Star, from a myth in the Library of Legends, who fell in love with a mortal, her Prince, and begged to be beside him in each reincarnation, cursed to never be recognized as his one true love. But now she has another purpose, too. She has been tasked by the Queen Mother of Heaven with sending the Gods and other beings, like the qilin, a Chinese unicorn who brings spring, home, before the gates of the Palace shut, forever.

On their journey they will face suspicion and accusations by their own people, their own fellow students, sickness and the horrors of war; a girl left orphaned by her single father, a soldier who had no choice but to take her to the front; countless bodies, given a water burial because it is cheap and the crematoriums are already overburdened; and of course the ever-constant threat of being gunned down in the street by Japanese aircraft. But threaded throughout are stories of love, too, of sacrifice and friendship, of a people who are forced to flee their country but never give up.

Janie Chang's father was made a refugee in his own country, and fled from Nanking with his own school, like so many others. You can truly feel the heart and the history behind this amazing book, and for those that are interested in learning more about this story, I highly recommend checking out her website, where she has extras she wasn't able to fit in the book! 

If you're looking for a WWII story that shines a light on places and atrocities outside of Europe and the US, you can stop your search here -- The Library of Legends is as informative as it is moving, a true tour de force of heartache -- and hope.