How Quickly an Unfounded Fear Can Become Reasonable Caution
Upon my return to Taiwan from New York last month, I had to undergo a 14-day quarantine. I intended to use my time wisely. I was finally going to finish edits to my novel, which had taken a back seat to other things in my life—teaching, freelance work. But of course, that’s not what happened. Confronted with the realities of self-quarantine, I discovered I couldn’t bear to look at my book. My difficulty focusing wasn’t just due to the relentless onslaught of pandemic-related news—though that was certainly part of it—but rather that sitting with my plot brought to the surface deep-seated, inherited family trauma.
My novel, which is about two childhood sweethearts who are separated from each other and their families as a result of the Chinese Civil War, is inspired by the lives of my grandparents, in particular my maternal grandfather. In 1949, when my grandfather was 19 and the war was nearing its end, from Shanghai to
