Three Sisters - A Review

Rating 2.5/5

Our book club had not read a Chinese Author yet. In fact for most of the members, this was the first Chinese author they had read. I am giving this background to establish why it may have not been a good choice for us.

Three Sisters is the story of the Wang family which spans from 1971 to 1982, which according to me was an eventful period in China's history. However, no where in this book was the Political or Social scenario of the country ever discussed. For someone with no background knowledge of the country, this book wasn't gripping enough.

The background of the story is in rural China in the Wang family village. It starts with the father of this family who is Party Secretary but a well known philanderer as well. He is initially very powerful but gets caught with the wife of a serving army soldier and hence is stripped of his position. The family falls from grace and to try to win the dignity of her family back, the eldest sister Yumi marries an older man but who is powerful. Yumi is described as a caregiver for the Wang Family. She takes care of her 6 sisters and one baby brother. She is protective of her mother and has an extremely strained relationship with her father, due to his philandering nature. She takes it upon herself to snub the women whom he sleeps with. 

After Yumi's marriage, she moves to the city, where she is dealing with her step daughter who gives her a hard time. Then her 3rd number sister Yuxio moves in with her, with no prior notice because she had been gang raped and then harassed and bullied in the village. Yuxio is described as a conniving flirt. She had never gotten on with Yumi but now uses her to better her life and reputation. However, she seems to fall in love with Yumi's step son and although she doesn't initiate the sexual contact, he forces himself upon her once, due to which she becomes pregnant with his child. She tries to keep this secret from everyone, including her sister but it becomes an open secret at her place of work. This part of the novel ends on the day Yuxio goes into labour while Yumi is also there. Hence, she finds out.

The third part of this novel is about the seventh sister Yuyang who joins a teaching school. Her character is not very well described and doesn't tie to the first two parts of the novel at all. She is an extremely timid, shy, introverted girl who loves to study. At Teaching school, one of the teachers who had been impotent for a few years, realises Yuyang has 'restored' his manhood. He promises her favours as he sleeps with her. 

Over all, this reads like a translated novel. The language is not smooth. There are many sentences, quotations which are hard to interpret as they must be directly translated. We did not enjoy this read.