At the end of the Cultural Revolution in China in the late 1970s Jing, an educated youth (zhishi qingnian) who has spent a few years as a peasant in the countryside, becomes a truck driver in a provincial shipyard. He manages to teach himself English in adverse circumstances while driving his truck, eventually passing the examination to get into the English Class at Donghu University. There, he meets with classmates from vastly different cultural backgrounds and falls in love with Deirdre, the estranged partner of Dr Wagner the English teacher
Notes
Balmain copy puchased with money donated by Friends of Balmain Library
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references
Notes
Winner News South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Community Relations Commission Prize 2011, Shortlisted for the Christina Stead Award for Fiction, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 2011, Shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier's Awards Fiction Prize 2011