I was immediately drawn to this book, but struggled with eyeball reading, so I was so glad when I got an advance listening copy as well, especially so I wouldn’t be butchering the Chinese words and intonations. This is really intense and deals with a lot of really difficult topics, and it’s hard to say any of the characters (though especially Ba) were likable, but the ending left me with a feeling of hope and healing.
Told through three (four?) perspectives, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing follows Qianze in 2017, 11 years after her father left her and her mom on her 14th birthday, when her Ba shows back up but he’s not always fully present in the here and now; Ba in 2017 as well as Weihong, the young man he was before Qianze and while living in China during 1960s and the often violent choices he made in order to survive and keep his family alive; and Ming, Weihong’s mother, growing up unloved by her mother but loved and accepted by her fiancée’s family leading up to the time Japan invaded Manchuria. For a while it was hard to figure out where things were headed, but I loved seeing the echoes of generational experiences and how Ming’s choices and experiences rippled down to still have an impact on Qianze, who had never known her grandmother.
I really loved the writing and the narration was a great experience. This is definitely not a book I’d recommend lightly, but it is a book I recommend and think I loved. It really reminded me how much I love historical fiction and learning about parts of history that weren’t covered in my American education. I also really liked the complexities of people showcased because so many were making choices to survive, even if they ended up hurting others, including loved ones.
This was a brutally beautiful kind of book and I really loved it and am so glad I was able to read it. Check out content warnings, but also strongly encourage others to pick it up!
CNs: rape, death, violence, injury, abuse, death of animals (including pet), allusions to racism, war, famine, alcoholism, dementia, hallucinations and delusions, torture, public humiliations and punishments, political strife, parental abandonment, abduction
