From the acclaimed author of Peach Blossom Pavilion comes a lush and lyrical novel of East and Westโand of one young womanโs search for her heartโs true callingโฆ
When twenty-year-old Meng Ning declares that she wants to be a Buddhist nun, her mother is aghast. In her eyes, a nunโs life means only deprivationโโno freedom, no love, no meat.โ But to Meng Ning, it means the chance to control her own destiny, and to live in an oasis of music, art, and poetry far from her parentsโ unhappy union.
With an enigmatic nun known as Yi Kong, โDepending on Emptiness,โ as her mentor, Meng Ning spends the next ten years studying abroad, disdaining men, and preparing to enter the nunnery. Then, a fire breaks out at her Buddhist retreat, and Meng Ning is carried to safety by Michael Fuller, a young American doctor. The unprecedented physical contact stirs her curiosity. And as their tentative friendship grows intimate, Meng Ning realizes she must choose between the sensual and the spiritual life.
From the austere beauty of Chinaโs Buddhist temples to the whirlwind of Manhattanโs social elite, and the brilliant bustle of Paris and Hong Kong, here is a novel of joy and heartbreakโand of the surprising paths that lead us where we most need to be.
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