Between Confidantes: Two Novellas
Danyan Chen

In Memory of the Departed

In this gripping tale of love, betrayal and revolution, Chen Danyan takes the reader on an extraordinary journey through the complexities wrought by history on a mother, her daughter and their circle of friends in Shanghai during the tumultuous years between 1944 and 1978.

With moving descriptions, this story brings to life the hardships of post-war China as well as the difficulty of making sense in a world whose moral, political and social boundaries were shifting with impossible speed.

Between Confidantes

A beautifully wrought and intriguing novel set amidst Shanghai's leafy plane trees and softly lit streets, Between Confidantes recounts the story of a friendship torn apart by love and ambition.

As Xiaomin struggles to make her way through a nursing career by day and work in a bar at night, her life as a single girl reveals the paradoxes and complexities faced by China's young women. Xiaomin's best friend An'an is married and has a lovely home, but does not realize how vulnerable her happiness and marriage really are until she leaves Shanghai for a few weeks. Desire and loyalty are set against each other as Xiaomin tries to figure out what the rules of success mean in contemporary China. Her heart-felt memories of a childhood spent with her grandmother, and her current dilemmas weave themselves through this compelling novel.