A Single Swallow

[snowazalea]

A Single Swallow is really good so far. I thought the idea of a woman’s life being revealed through the narratives of three different men would be kind of unsatisfying since women’s perspectives are one thing I really love in fiction about women. However, the men themselves are interesting. They all agreed to meet as spirits in a certain place after they died, but some died much younger than others, so some have been waiting a long time. I have read a few other books of someone telling a narrative after they died. The story is set against the background of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as was the last book I read and as is the drama I’m currently watching, Winter Begonia. So, I’m definitely grounded in that time period, though I have to admit, it doesn’t seem like too much happens other than war stuff. It would be terrible to say I got used to reading about atrocities, but I do believe I have.

My favorite narrator of the three is Ian. He’s kind of a sprightly boy compared to the more serious other two. One is a doctor and the other is Ah Yan’s childhood friend and technically her husband. They signed the papers as very young people so her mother could adopt him and he could avoid a draft, though he actually was planning to run away and join a different and better army, so, not a reason I ever considered for one avoiding a draft.

There’s a lot of foreshadowing with Ian, and he makes it really clear in the beginning that he did something terrible to Ah Yan, so I wasn’t quite sure what kind of person he was going to be.