WAITING is the stor of Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese army, trapped in an arranged, loveless marriage to Shuyu who lives in a small village, a day’s travel away from the city where he is stationed.
Lin wants Shuyu to agree to a divorce so that he may marry Manna Wu, a nurse whom he met in the hospital where he works.
Every summer, Lin travels back to his village where Shuyu lives with their daughter, to appear with her before a magistrate to obtain the divorce.
And every summer, for seventeen years, Shuyu, although agreeing not to contest the divorce, goes back on her word, leaving Lin unable to marry Manna Wu, or even have intimate relations with her. After each hearing, Lin is subjected to the derisive taunts of the villagers; Men are all alike, beasts’’, and ’’Doctors are butchers’’.
Finally, after 18 years, Lin is granted a legal divorce.
Meanwhile, the situation with Manna Wu has changed, and the way the story plays out is not the ’’happily ever after’’ result the reader expects.
Plot
Time/era of story - 1980’s-1999
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance: - love triangle/polygon - playing footsy while inconveniently married
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - general liberal/left wing activism - fighting government corruption
Family, struggle with Yes
Struggle with: - Wife
Culture clash? - visiting a culture in other country
Is this an adult or child’s book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes
Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - doctor
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others’ feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique
Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40’s-50’s
Profession/status: - servant
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 (a good amount)
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - China
City? Yes
City: - rude people
Farm/Ranch? Yes
Farm/Ranch: - farm
Misc setting - fort/military installation
Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - touching of anatomy - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of hetero sex - rape/molest (yeech!)
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript.