Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Season of the Stranger: A Novel
The Season of the Stranger: A Novel
The Season of the Stranger: A Novel
Ebook367 pages9 hours

The Season of the Stranger: A Novel

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Three civilians fight to survive China’s communist revolution in the suspenseful debut novel from the acclaimed author of The Chinese Bandit

China, 1948. As the Red Army marches south from Manchuria, the rest of the country awaits the defeat of the Nationalist regime with a paralyzing mixture of hope and fear.
 
Andrew Girard, an American professor at a Chinese university, believes that the future holds the promise of a fairer, more peaceful China. His mistress, Li-ling, shares his optimism but is caught between the love she feels for her former teacher and the loyalty she owes her father, a powerful and corrupt profiteer. Wen-li, Girard’s pragmatic young servant, knows that in the violent chaos of revolution, the brave and idealistic often pay the highest price.
 
Told from the shifting points of view of its three main characters, The Season of the Stranger masterfully evokes the tense atmosphere of a nation on the cusp of profound change. Based on author Stephen Becker’s experiences as a teacher and student in pre-Communist China and published when he was just twenty-four years old, this unforgettable story of love, violence, courage, and tragedy, brings an exotic lost world to thrilling life.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 12, 2016
ISBN9781504026871
The Season of the Stranger: A Novel
Author

Stephen Becker

Stephen Becker (1927–1999) was an American author, translator, and teacher whose published works include eleven novels and the English translations of Elie Wiesel’s The Town Behind the Wall and André Malraux’s The Conquerors. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and after serving in World War II, he graduated from Harvard University and studied in Peking and Paris, where he was friends with the novelist Richard Wright and learned French in part by reading detective novels. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Becker taught at numerous schools throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, Bennington College, and the University of Central Florida in Orlando. His best-known works include A Covenant with Death (1965), which was adapted into a Warner Brothers film starring Gene Hackman and George Maharis; When the War Is Over (1969), a Civil War novel based on the true story of a teenage Confederate soldier executed more than a month after Lee’s surrender; and the Far East trilogy of literary adventure novels: The Chinese Bandit (1975), The Last Mandarin (1979), and The Blue-Eyed Shan (1982).

Read more from Stephen Becker

Related to The Season of the Stranger

Related ebooks

Historical Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for The Season of the Stranger

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5

1 rating0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Season of the Stranger - Stephen Becker

    Чdbook_preview_excerpt.html]Ɏ#GV6zhCW }tF8.BŒuߘ|{fɄtVAws[/e?V}'?ɷ_gO.ta8V6L% M5j/nj6j?s:^\2Wgj>aׇ0KN^S-*' /KXZW\Z-SVjNj VoVYm(?C#o4f'\]?FT>8;Ϯ z>g{7yl} :^'\qYQyqa<Һljh]#/=±]YHSwX& as݅TnJ#>^JCj,>`$#W+\ p >W/)^a򳬛+ס!=N.OՋ|Kbbgם/ZxrrC,\led\j9ɥFU\'9l 3x L' ZDnNrOZ7"%䧳=Ǡk)!"Ժv< EVn&Yty8q}r ~mkAn]x&Ov@|rpqNx(FJs]($ TU# $ rw!yTm|'dd&=[YGkY? 0ɸ̻,xB-wx;|n*; g lwىj80d , d Q[Tyf LTslX(nΜ~^׹.]Z~&1UZMp!"Eqɋ@}NWO|}2s'r")ԨmC \K ]%pʹ7Y~;f).T|W`pTO'jw>zo_1v+5lbejt > Kl(d}ۜVC{ڪ=ѠFP\(ZF"É{:X8 E1~.O>>UDmk?1T' vb b ڽ3A︨-]$Q8 M$5D_>a%"`99| h:;&[Iߤg \A ?x͆hmqj+e= &؝Rբ+>{=Dzbh^DkRr.= ߋ6m~~GBhkuϱɟ 8QwB8M{<EAK_VIx/0 ' &1֕8՚/l3)aK 5d\ HϔtC\5IKA2#$GBPoHhB1VZ&EN:/4R@(j*=v'U/ rp`VuW3LBtLOAG$5"v,a @pyo3ň5QÌ,cҙbtӖ5#G=09D.㴳j,Hׅ92C%@{½H M㛨JQ>qއ*_ou0sI^,boyl;Z>EΈ[Fh݅{09'>뙫~xׅ7++6Ak^KTJYm [5"Ve<#`Ⱥ!P,nptY^5j& SpqaYoPz\Y"eH1TQ=NGW{6}GX|w_Y#9Qu;ylm^[BY{H|E_"12Q_"冒Z#jmԂ8|Op¾K(5Y*q/`TEg[dRTpGYUJ7C4%Lxs‹K.8t,  *'>6Y2 O /dtQUG4Q2CB3!Sp!J Fs,~Ѧ|`A-䍠qgDn٘{݃lkܐa|/P chJp];ki[}O5kq/Cj^i*q L4 1Tw&{:^CIa26.6RtnswU"9‰ s5{B2Շ ng#p>/u1&1uX?;>O/SIMq=9Ӫ9&աtJF?I{WwWnjҖy{;}7ٷ4{|1B5΋5y|*"3"ªR4(o `qRM'Ĵj ͧcYY_}YҤgםNiNYph&$kT,vHN:eTQUDOR|U֝ 頬Q LtD^b))mpE2*S?r?5c[@i#i@G - HVE-tqq-[))xe:ЀiQ7pe R*mc}9ܢ_'{(e_Ċ$x&\vZol!t y W'c?~s)^Zoc|ETjgJZlx-b4o2n:\rz!=bǍ'`D%fo )cGB_}p>&Q2YkaX|W@lS CFB,]J}31DTTd!6̢+f y2$7(CUlPdRh:riw޴"ŠG v'B˂:=-%%d!! Fa6};Ϊcɢrz?КoұGVHXy[1oZ:EÝ(ԩc}6+5 LaHXud-%BaSb[J(@)~&Q+~bQk ~1RH[yNQ@Ojuo{)7蔓D,C>(:س=tZتGԅUV|^r!B&"a߆\Cl1Rw>bro0 2 ;&(2Al eԳ:s[%vuN]Om/`I0[j} ëbflj5,0e2x{>J\|ڦGn,=(^Amm-PV+C^VGek XǨeY4& 9ǻPް^/5&5Yl5o" mF|o @fkbp Z.:Ә/8ӱԌ ,0: 0@^_O~V^Ý_ܠ]4-,őAN&Gtx8h!B͠&IέX8w},vPP3+$^bu–O|DB>Sr[a2(#ns}4[Fv%XMV!fkG';ӂ: 4dbH)A^ŧؿؾEPǦB#,seI9)51g6%b VІ~ghF53-3A9NZ|ɒJ ;8J4f l IȺ.2Ez?wŪm٤ө.N13 "rA1c &9 ے$oDdz/ oLhsZjXj-d:G#f6RDj;gR:|##^h!F FK*O#S/p4=:$W:ME+zN`!a֋?e5^Ёoi%Xx0X$o|]mhI]U|vs2dN6 w?(ޣv`[}Sr,'ܸiOqAf4y$P IΪQ*?!Gh,a#ޔKP&#@{7M~XͮXHgfnfa~w6`}T3L "Ps1=,+Mu5e=cO:9u 8=U NE8mO#F#XvE]aTw8#hЬ߁K`=7qԟ*إ`sž:f&&lH(#qs#XVٗbF_><%},}:)&<[WzpoMz4+d@#Oi S[Z^':Mj"!K9.qحjw;}%˨Uj_&9P^ qc`Zyhh@fJ 0+b,iPo9yhwa,iu>!n~3Ty;j}gd哱C߈1,Wy l8e?Ҥӝu`Ţ<$)l`{0F ܍3v WpC3͖Px ndd{(w6iCe+-dc}2k,*ua/XOI+#jPZVBķ|p=qLZ5 /Lnfq $,1AgTcQu, L 4CT UK^9b<GxԖʧ1 *Gl9 J鋠 VO[<ۺH˘l~K*gѦ1a,owbUn/;^>{bfiֈB>)4s3q,e=M3 8!VIi;㳭9)yjAkPcN[y=7.MSOڠPMV9Ɇ8k#1P JYU%:}ۦƧ>3fDMl5_m^Kn>[T1,Űu^`Da)-4 j-&)SezF~gYlU)Y bϱJ[!*jaݻN5;kLÊb-cze3) k7ım}i㓼׮.Q,)oj۸\ޤ+!9!ejR}l,Qpy]?{oFU9U?Gk' !D 7GS{W6^ΌF\AƷZ>pHXP jD5dւIڮ<4Ct: tuXX(ﻨ;]5\` -W b)+q̭8r^ن7nB+Bk=MhB^LڋUJbbl kY炋8)%";5<`-CͨnMمI*AЊ}*d@D]2eGx:7[~-\-lZeZfag]N3`yu&~ϛnfҖ#?O }cU1u{8`%faD
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1