RedRose,WhiteRose

‘There were two women in Zhenbao’s life: one he called his white rose, the other his red rose. One was a spotless wife, the other a passionate mistress’ EILEEN CHANG Born Zhang Ying, 30 September 1920, Shanghai Died Eileen Chang, 8 September 1995, Westwood, California This translation was first published by the New York Review in the USA, 2007. It was first published in Penguin Modern Classics the same year. ALSO PUBLISHED BY PENGUIN BOOKS Lust, Caution • Love in a Fallen City EILEEN CHANG Red Rose, White Rose TRANSLATED BY KAREN S. KINGSBURY PENGUIN BOOKS Contents Red Rose, White Rose plenty of opportunities to look forward to and the benefits of an unfettered mind. An amazing degree of freedom, all in all. And yet the average man’s life, no matter how good, is only a ‘peach blossom fan.’ Like the loyal, beleaguered beauty in the story, you bang your head and blood drips on the fan. Add a few strokes of ink, and the bloodstain becomes a peach blossom. Zhenbao’s fan was still blank, but he had a dry brush, a wet inkstone, a sunny window, and a clean table – all just waiting for him to lower his brush and begin. That bla......