The release date for the English version of 'Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress' by
Dai Sijie is Oct 2002. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
During China's terrible Cultural Revolution, two unfortunate city youths are sent to a distant mountain town for reeducation. This is a charming story about the beauty of reading and the joy of love revelation. They meet the local tailor's daughter there, and they find a secret cache of translated Western classics into Chinese. They discover a way to escape their depressing circumstances and go to previously unimagined places as they flirt with the seamstress and covertly eat these prohibited literature.