Debunking "The" War Narrative: A Book Review of A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling
Three deceased souls gathered on August 15, 2015 in Yuehu, China. The meeting was long anticipated by exasperated Pastor Billy and Liu Zhaohu. The two expired companions had developed a deep-rooted resentment toward party member number three because he, Ian Ferguson, was seventy years late. Once young men gathered around a kitchen table in 1945, toasting round after round of whiskey to celebrate the end of the war, the three ghosts are spending eternity considering the beautiful, tragic hero who surrendered a piece of her heart to each of the men, binding them all together forever.
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling is a love story and a history lesson in one book. Showcasing a lesser-known historical relationship, China and America fighting together during WWII, Ling created a war epic masterpiece. Originally written in Chinese in 2017, Ling always maintained the intention of pursuing beautifully articulated translations for many audiences. The English version, translated by Shelly Bryant, was made available through Amazon Crossing during 2021 World Book Week.
With international readers squarely in Ling’s mind, A Single Swallow casts a wide net over four demographically diverse main characters. There is so much packed into each of the three male narrators and the main female character, Ah Yan, that the four characters could have been featurettes of four separate books. Ling knots the stories together and challenges the notion of individualized storylines because we do not live in this world alone.
Ling could have easily written this story through Ah Yan’s perspective or through Ah Yan’s daughter’s voice, Ah May. It would have been an equally powerful choice. However, Ling sets her novel apart by creating a focal point so distant readers can only stand back and discuss with the spectators and narrators. Readers never hear from Stella or Ah May. This absence can be frustrating for readers, like online blogger Farah Mohammed of Narrative Muse, “For those looking for a woman’s outlook on the war, this isn’t it. While there is an enduring female role model at the centre of the book, she is more mythology than real person.” I would compare this stylistic choice to the painting, The Mona Lisa. The portrait’s subject is someone we will never talk to. Nor can we ask her about her experience posing for the picture. She appears untouchable. As is true for Ah Yan and Wende and Stella. One woman who three men and thousands of readers can never get close enough to yet are deeply connected to.
I disagree with Mohammed’s feelings about the book not being a woman’s outlook on war. I spent a lot of mental energy wishing people would only leave Ah Yan alone. It was my only “solution” for keeping her safe. A passage central to the story busted my one-dimensional conclusion apart:
“The biggest lesson Stella learned in Yuehu was how to deal with shame. Before, she had thought that if she could shrink herself very small and hide, shame would never find her again. But she was wrong. Shame was a shadow, and no matter how far she traveled, it would follow her. Indeed, even if she ran as fast as she could, she would never be rid of it. So she learned to turn around. One day, she simply understood how to face shame directly. She stood upright, turned around, and met it head-on, only to find that the shame that had followed her persistently was just an empty shell. Once it had been punctured, it completely deflated. It was only when she faced it head-on that the shame lost its power. And that was when she completed her metamorphosis from pupa to butterfly.” (A Single Swallow, Zhang Ling)
In our lives we will always bump into other people. A Single Swallow was more a woman’s outlook on war than many readers will know because they are not considering the author, Zhang Ling. Ling worked directly with war veterans prior to becoming a full time author. She bumped into many people who shared their accounts of war with her. A Single Swallow is her account of war through her experiences with people and growing up in China during war times.
There is also the matter of depth and mystery that heightens the appeal of Ling’s subject matter, Wende/Ah Yan/Stella. Even the detail that readers don’t know which name the woman prefers to be called by. Has this not been the concern about the lack of the female voice in historical records? We search for women’s first hand accounts and do not realize we are staring right at women who have seen war and are accounting for it in their own way.
The author captured her male narrators’ voices and delivered them authentically to readers. It is extremely difficult to write through another gender lens simply because people are not aware of the little nuisances of male and female. That or we focus on the overarching details and miss the threads that sew a man or a woman together. Ling accomplishes this not once but through three unique, male voices. Each story is compelling, heart wrenching, and genuine and remain completely unique to the novel.
Historical fiction is a genre that will always steal away my hours. A Single Swallow sets itself apart in the genre for two reasons. One, the book covers a lesser-known historical event, America’s partnership with China to resist Japanese forces during WWII. In an interview with Intralingo Inc. Ling says, “The book involves something a lot of people are not aware about that is the American’s involvement in China’s war.”
Two, the book was not intended for American readers despite half of the main characters originating from America. The book was intended for any reader aware of and or impacted by war. The original text is in Chinese. And the language choice was the author’s preference. In Ling’s words, “It is a difficult almost heartbreaking choice to abandon your native language when writing.” So she did not suffer the heartbreak and risk the story. Instead Ling pursued a great translation team to get an amazing story into many people’s hands.
While I categorize A Single Swallow as a buy to keep and reread, I will add this disclaimer: Infrequent readers be warned. Any historical drama heavy with facts and dates paired with paradigm shifting ideologies can feel like drinking from a firehose. Novels and authors that really do their homework I tend to shy away from recommending to new or infrequent readers. A Single Swallow lands squarely into the rich, dynamic, hefty category. If a historical fiction title is always on your TBR (to be read) list than bump Ling’s new book to the top. If you haven’t finished a book in a couple of months, hit me up for a different recommendation or download the audiobook to jumpstart your pace.
Good books show us what to care about. Great books show us how to care well. Ah Yan and Zhang Ling are heroic in how they cared for the survivors of war and teach us to look for rich narratives in far removed places.
Other historical fiction novels to try that will sweep you into the past:
