The Year of the Rat by Lucille Bellucci
BUY IT NEW
- $19.95 Online price$17.95 Member price(Save 10%)Limited Time Offer! Everyone receives the Member Price on books.
See Details
Customers who bought this also bought
Product Details
- Pub. Date: December 2000
- Publisher: iUniverse, Incorporated
- Format: Paperback, 328pp
- ISBN-13: 9780595148950
- ISBN: 0595148956
Synopsis
Love and desperation in Shanghai, China, before and after the Communist takeover.
Too soon after the Second Big War and occupation by the Japanese army, Shanghai in 1948 faces occupation by Mao Tse-tung's army. The affluent foreigners believe business will continue as before; hasn't it always, after every conflict? But the Russians, the stateless ones, who fled the Bolsheviks believe the Communists will kill them.
For Maria Conti and her family, the executioner wears a different countenance. They could die of starvation. Their only income is the little she earns from her share of a saloon catering to American and British servicemen. When they leave China, the business will go with them. The Contis get no rent from their tenants. Nor can Mr. Conti sell, for in these uncertain times no one will buy. Maria's little sister, Nola, helps her father manufacture ersatz liquor in their dining room. Her mother, Ming Chu, knows her family's Italian citizenship is useless; the Contis are trapped.
On April 20th, 1949, the Communists shell the British frigate HMS Amethyst on the Yangtze River. The Woosung forts are in flames. Maria's lover, American Army Captain Thaddeus Huell, must evacuate with his unit before he can get the Contis out. Love, a killing, survival—these are Maria's story in The Year of the Rat.
Customer Reviews
Year of the Ratby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
June 02, 2002: The author has lived the reality of the helpless populace of Shanghai awaiting the inevitable takeover by Mao Tse-tung's army. It is compelling to follow the day-to-day activities of the Conti family as they use ingenuity and sheer pluck to survive in an environment where the rules change even as the game is played. Mr. Conti's livlihood shifts from entrepreneurship to proprietorship as he struggles to provide a roof and food on the table for his Chinese wife and two daughters. But his best-laid plans have gone awry as the tenants of his apartment house turn a deaf ear when the rent comes due. To avoid starvation, his resourceful daughter, Maria, becomes a partner in a night-club of sorts where she meets her American Prince Charming. Her little sister Nola makes her imaginative contribution by helping Mr. Conti manufacture the club's alcohol inventory. Bellucci makes it all come alive for the reader. And the cliff-hanger ending keeps one wondering whether or not the hapless family will really succeed in eluding the Communists or in falling prey to their merciless advance. This novel has all the ingredients--love, violence, perseverence--to provide a heady potion for the fiction devotee while maintaining a keen insight into what really happened in post World War II China.
Loading...