The Magpie Bridge

Lui Hong

Hodder Moa Beckett

Otago Daily Times, July 31st 2004

The Magpie Bridge is a story of transition.   Jiao Mei is in London on a year’s study leave from her native China, and,  having decided to stay in Britain, “accidentally” falls pregnant to her English boyfriend.  It is not so easy to leave one’s past behind, however, and she finds herself visited nightly by the ghost of her long-dead Grandmother Tei Mei-who is determined to rescue her from the clutches of this foreign shore.  In an attempt to reconnect Jaio Mei with her past, Tei Mei relates the history of the family, and the story of her own, often painful life.  Over a period of several months, the two woman move towards an understanding of one another that allows Tei Mei to accept her granddaughter’s choice to remain abroad, and forces Jaio Mei to re-examine her own relationship with her family and homeland.

There is a sense that this story is at least in part autobiographical, as the author herself grew up in China and moved to England in 1989, and as such the descriptions of Chinese life are likely drawn from her own experiences.  There have been a number of memorable books, both factual and fictional, published over the past decade, and, although competently written, The Magpie Bridge does not convey the intensely reality of Chinese history and culture captured by stories such as  Wild Swans  nor evoked by writers such as Amy Tan.   Read it rather as a gentle story of self-discovery and reconciliation with an Oriental flavour.