Jan A.M. De Meyer Ordre des livres (chronologique)

This deft translation of a classic Chinese novel tells the story of a man, now an itinerant healer, who wanders through the towns and countryside of North China in the last years of the Manchu dynasty.

In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys are exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, they find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.