The Moon Opera
The Moon Opera by Feiyu Bi is a debut novel published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2009, featuring 117 pages in English. This work offers a penetrating exploration of the world of Chinese opera, focusing on the life of Xiao Yanqiu, a star whose jealousy leads to a dramatic act of violence against her understudy. After being ostracized by her troupe, she shifts her career to teaching, only to be drawn back into the world of opera two decades later by a wealthy benefactor who wishes to restage the opera that once defined her life.
Readers will find a narrative rich in themes of drama, intrigue, and the complexities of female identity within the constraints of society. The story unfolds against the backdrop of Peking opera, delving into the emotional and psychological landscapes of its characters as they navigate jealousy, retribution, and redemption. The Moon Opera presents a vivid portrayal of women who are both celebrated and limited by their roles, capturing the allure and challenges of the theatrical world.
Official synopsis Publisher
The debut novel of one of China’s rising young literary talents–a gem of a book that takes a piercing look into the world of Chinese opera and its female stars In a fit of diva jealousy, Xiao Yanqiu, star of The Moon Opera, disfigures her understudy with boiling water. Spurned by the troupe, she turns to teaching.
Twenty years later, a rich cigarette-factory boss offers to underwrite a restaging of the cursed opera, but only on the condition that Xiao Yanqiu return to the role of Chang’e. So she does, this time believing she has fully become the immortal moon goddess.
Set against the drama, intrigue, jealousy, retribution, and redemption of backstage Peking opera,The Moon Opera is a stunning portrait of women in a world that simultaneously reveres and restricts them. Bi Feiyu, one of China’s young literary stars, re-creates all the temptations and triumphs of the stage the world over in this gem of a novel.
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