Sang is a young scholar living alone in a small village in 18th century China. One night a strange and beautiful woman arrives at his house, and he soon falls deeply in love with her. But later, a second even more beautiful woman arrives, and things become extremely complicated. This is a story about fox spirits and ghosts, love and lust, and the unpredictable nature of the human and the not-quite-human heart.
This book is a retelling of a Chinese short story called "Lotus Fragrance," from the book Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio written by Pu Songling and published in 1740.
It's written using the 1200-word HSK4 vocabulary, making it accessible to advanced beginner or intermediate students of Chinese. A glossary of all words is included, along with an English translation. A free audiobook is available on YouTube on the Imagin8 Press channel.
The authors are the best-selling writing team of Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang, co-authors of the Journey to the West series of graded readers, and translations of Chinese classics including the Dao De Jing, the San Zi Jing , and the Art of War.
