Stones of the Wall

One comes to care very much for the characters in this novel of modern China by a former Red Guard who now teaches literature at the University of Shanghai. As students and intellectuals during the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 and the ensuing Cultural Revolution, Sun Yue, her husband, their friends and teachers fell into different political factions that attacked each other in ideological forums. These public accusations often led to personal and political humiliations and sometimes resulted in years of exile to the countryside for ""reform through labor.'' After the fall of the Gang of Four in the early 1970s, Sun Yue and others who had required ``rehabilitation'' return to university jobs and begin the struggle to reconcile their political histories with their personal lives. Zhao Zhenhuan, Sun Yue's former husband, wants her to forgive him for abandoning her, their daughter and his own beliefs. He Jingfu, a philosopher trying to publish a controversial book on Marxist humanism, has never lost his love for Sun Yue, whom all look to as one who held true to her youthful ideals in ways they did not. Chapters narrated by these characters and others build an eloquent portrayal of their efforts to achieve personal happiness without betraying ideological convictions. Unfamiliar names and events demand close but fully rewarding reading. This is a very human, deeply moving love story. (April 8)