"The treasure of love is easy to find." Song lyrics

After reading the sparkling review of this book by an internet friend, I wanted to experience the story telling and literary quality of the book myself.

I'm so glad I did.

This is a story of Gu Bao who goes from an inexperienced eighteen-year-old law student in China to a woman determined to have her own child and peruse her chosen career. She also becomes a voice of defiance to those authorities who insist on the rules in China in the time of the Tiananmen Square Protests in 1989.

The story develops as Bao is a law student when female students weren't permitted to date.  She meets and falls in love with Tong, who is also a student. He's attending the Nanjing Army Command College and is due to graduate in the near future.

The couple must keep their romance secret because students at the military college aren't allowed to date prior to graduation with the Chinese idea that the student must devote full time and energy to their studies.

We learn of the protests at Tiananmen Square and other places in China. This was a new development for Bao who was taught to obey and bow down to Chairman Mao Zedong.

As her character develops, Bao returns to the home of her grandparents and must decide what to do with the child she is expecting.  Later, she meets a young woman living in the mountains because of the oppressive rule of only having one child. This woman's determination and love of her husband and first child is well described and heart catching.

The development that we see in Gu Bao is tenderly displayed as her character begins to flower. To see the determination and pride that she begins to feel for herself and the strict rules of her government gives the reader a good view of China at that time and a wonderful view of an excellent character.