內容簡介
內容簡介 首部描寫台灣二二八事件的英文小說橫跨六十年與兩大洲，以二十世紀台灣為背景，一部關於愛、背叛與家庭的椎心之作「引人入勝的史詩……扣人心弦且感人肺腑，這個張力強烈的故事探討父親與女兒之間的連結、他們被迫做出的妥協，以及為了追求自由所付出的代價。」——Booklist書評1947年2月28日，蔡醫生在撼動台北的暴動中，被困於家裡，在剛過午夜時，接生了他的小女兒，也是本書的匿名敘述者。台灣頒布戒嚴令後，在未來的幾個星期，當中國國民黨展開弭平異議份子的行動時，蔡醫生因為在一場地方集會上為民主發聲，而遭到逮捕，成為被迫與家人分離、關入綠島監獄的上萬人之一。蔡醫生超過十年後終於歸來，卻早已身心俱疲、殘破不堪，飽受與家人疏離與社區居民的疑心之苦，他與小女兒逐漸發展的親情，也籠罩在這些衝突之下。多年後，蔡醫生的小女兒移民美國，過去的陰影卻揮散不去。當她的丈夫參與台灣的民主運動時，她必須判斷什麼樣的決定才是對的、什麼樣的決定才可能拯救她的家庭。她站在多年前，目睹父親所做同樣訣擇的十字路口。跟隨著敘述者的眼光，藉由她的一生看台灣近代史，從日本統治時期結束、經歷戒嚴時期，最後迎來民主的轉變。《Green Island》是一部家庭與國家的生存故事，作者也提出關鍵問題：你究竟願意為了所愛之人付出多少？Shawna Yang Ryan為前傅爾布萊特計畫 (Fulbright) 學者，曾出版小說《Water Ghosts》。A stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century.February 28, 1947: Trapped inside the family home amid an uprising that has rocked Taipei, Dr. Tsai delivers his youngest daughter, the unnamed narrator of Green Island, just after midnight as the city is plunged into martial law. In the following weeks, as the Chinese Nationalists act to crush the opposition, Dr. Tsai becomes one of the many thousands of people dragged away from their families and thrown into prison. His return, after more than a decade, is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community—conflicts that loom over the growing bond he forms with his youngest daughter. Years later, this troubled past follows her to the United States, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before. As the novel sweeps across six decades and two continents, the life of the narrator shadows the course of Taiwan’s history from the end of Japanese colonial rule to the decades under martial law and, finally, to Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy. But, above all, Green Island is a lush and lyrical story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, raising the question: how far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?
