This vibrant historical novel is set in early postwar Taiwan during a time when the island’s new Nationalist Chinese rulers are engaged in violently suppressing and cowing its recently “liberated” residents. While brilliantly capturing the anxious mood in Taiwan at that time, this work also weaves the nearby southern islands of the Okinawa Archipelago into its compelling narrative landscape.
The author treads lightly through historical minutiae to focus on breathing enticing life into the plot and literary imagery. Protagonist Lee Tsan-Yun, a man who analogizes his life to a map, fears being unable to extricate himself from its intractable lines. Unexpectedly, he too finds himself fading from the world and, as he makes his escape from his well-mapped life’s course, adopts a new perspective on the underlying meaning of the “map”. Land of Serenity amalgamizes personal and social anxieties, reminding readers of the true price paid by those who were sacrificed. Seeing future possibilities through the umbra of this age, the author describes a narrative landscape that, albeit sorrowful, is also radiantly bright.