A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, nominated for the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, is a novel about a twenty-three-year-old woman named Xiao Qiao Zhuang who moves from China to London to study English for a year. Soon after she arrives in London she meets a man with whom she falls in love, but their love story is not a traditional one. Throughout their relationship, Zhuang and her lover encounter tensions between communist and capitalist cultures, heterosexual and homosexual love, monogamous and open relationships, commitment and freedom, community and individualism, and feminine and masculine gender roles.
Though the book touches on such philosophical topics, it is surprisingly easy to read. The book is divided into brief two-to-three page sections, and the language—told by a character learning English as a second language—is straightforward. Perhaps the most endearing aspect of the book is its narration, which reveals so much by telling so little. Within the simplicity of Zhuang’s English lie profound lyricism and poetry that make you look at British and Chinese cultures, as well as life and love, with fresh eyes. As an immigrant myself, I understand some of the loneliness and isolation Zhuang experiences and can appreciate her reaction to British weather and baked beans for breakfast. As a Westerner, I was pleasantly surprised to find new ways of looking at my own culture and identity.
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is an illuminating examination of the points at which an Eastern and a Western culture intersect, a remarkable exposure of the flaws in common stereotypes, and a convincing portrait of a young woman discovering herself against the backdrop of urban Britain.
