Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang
In Dragon Springs Road (William Morrow Paperbacks), Janie Chang constructs a magical, rich and compelling historical novel set in the early twentieth-century about Jialing, a girl of Eurasian descent, as she navigates her life as an orphan near Shanghai, China.
The Western Residence of Dragon Springs Road is the place Jialing calls home. Abandoned by her mother, a mistress to the estate’s owner, who is forced to flee with him after his financial demise, Jialing is befriended by Fox, a mystical creature who becomes her guide. Fox drifts in and out of Jialing’s life in both animal and female form as Jialing works as the bondservant of the Yang family, the new owners of the Western Residence. With the Yangs, Jialing is thrust into a life of servitude and exploitation and learns the harsh realities of her lowly status in society.
When she attends a Christian mission school, Jialing encounters a world that is both beautiful and cruel, to which she responds with vulnerability and courage. Readers will see her both succumb and fight, though as she reaches adulthood, Jialing grows into a force that she herself doesn’t yet understand. Her friendships are precarious; her romantic relationships are marred by history and patriarchy. She has only one wish: to find her mother. When Jialing is finally old enough to take the journey to find her mother, she is embroiled in a scandal that could potentially destroy her. All the while, Fox remains her lifeline, her connection to her past, and her key to survival.
Dragon Springs Road is a wonderful read. The author was precise in defining Jiajing’s challenges; she pulled no punches in providing the reader context and nuance in the choices Jialing made to survive. Cultural norms in twentieth-century Shanghai subjected girls and women to little choice— and Jialing is maligned even more because of her mixed race—their worth handed to men who could trade them as goods. Yet, the author was also able to breathe hope into the novel through magic, fantasy and superstition.
Dragon Springs Road was captivating, written with elegant prose and a light touch of romance. Readers are sure to read it from cover to cover with bated breath in anticipation of Jialing’s safety and eventual triumph.
Dragon Springs Road is available for purchase.
