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Review:
LOVE: LEAP OF THE HEART AND A SWEET TEAR is the poetic journey of one woman's spiritual struggle and the eventual triumph of love over passions and desires.
Steeped in Asian philosophy and traditions through birth, but totally immersed in the western way of life through education, the protagonist is able, however, to reconcile her conflicts. In resolving her conflicts, Lena, the beautiful Chinese heroine, becomes aware of the two disparate sides of human thought and of the possibility of bringing together these divergent ideals into a synthesis that would lead her closer to a workable balance in her attitude toward life.
Thus, yearning for her young Caucasian lover, J. J., who represents the young, vibrant America, becomes her whole life. But loving her husband, Mark, who represents the age-old wisdom of China, is her whole existence.
Consequently, her adultery becomes a lyrical allegory of the human spirit and its final spiritual ascendance through the transcendence of her human frailty which is not characteristically hers, but is characteristically universal to all.
Ray Bradbury says, "Reading this book makes me believe that Bernadette Shih has an ancestry of hummingbirds and dragonflies."
Bernadette L. Shih was born in China and now resides in Southern California. She is a prize-winning poet and has written a biography of Mao Zedong.
