After reading The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, I needed something completely different.
Jialing does not have normal luck. In Dragon Springs Road, by Janie Chang, she either has very good luck—thanks to the fox spirit that lives in her house—or very bad luck—because she is an orphaned female in early twentieth century China. Though the novel centers mostly on Jialing’s home in a suburb of Shanghai, it’s clear that the old ways of life in China are dying. Unfortunately, they’re not dying fast enough for Jialing. The novel follows Jialing through highs and lows, from 1908 to the early 1920s.
In her earliest memories, Jialing knows she lived in the Western Residence of a siheyuan, a traditional Chinese residence built around courtyards, with her mother. After her mother disappears, Jialing is begrudgingly taken in by the Yang family. Grandmother Yang makes Jialing a bond servant (essentially a slave) because she believes this will help her score points for the next life. Jialing’s life might have been complete drudgery if it weren’t for the fox spirit (huli jing) that lives in the Western Residence. Fox made a promise to Jialing’s mother that she would watch out for the girl. Fox doesn’t have much power, but she is able to influence people and events so that, sometimes, Jialing gets lucky. Jialing even manages to get a mission school education—thanks to Fox.
Though the Yangs raise Jialing to be a passive servant, Fox nourishes Jialing’s precocity and intelligence. Fox also tries to teach Jialing how to use her wiles once she reaches puberty, but Jialing resists. She saw what happened to her mother, after all. But in the first half of the twentieth century, there were few roles for Chinese women to provide for themselves. Even worse for Jialing is that her father was European. People who might have hired a Chinese secretary, nanny, or teacher balk at hiring someone of mixed race—though several men are quite willing to have her as their mistress.
The last third of Dragon Springs Road is much faster paced than the first two. The story evolves from a slowish bildungsroman, with a supernatural fox, to almost a thriller. (Still with the supernatural fox.) And, strangely enough, it all worked for me. I quite enjoyed this odd piece of historical fiction. This would be a great book for people who want something exotic, light but not too fluffy, with great characters at its heart.