Bette Bao Lord's ambitious new novel, Spring Moon, is a family saga which … attempts to paint a portrait of the Chinese revolution of this century. In keeping with this dual vision, Mrs. Lord has imbued her protagonists with political convictions of differing hues: Bold Talent is a sort of armchair reformer whose love of China's cultural heritage triumphs over his reformist impulse; Noble Talent is a professional revolutionary dedicated, first, to the overthrow of the Ch'ing dynasty and, later, to the reunification of China under the Nationalist banner; Lustrous Jade is a Communist who joins Mao Tse-tung on the Long March; and so on. The thread that weaves this episodic story of the Changs together is the novel's titular heroine, herself curiously apolitical….

Anyone looking for a subtle treatment of the political issues that have convulsed China over the course of the last 100 years will not find it...