Set against the backdrop of the Second World War/Sino-Japanese war (1931-1945), the story centres around the fatal love between a married Chinese woman and a young Japanese soldier. However, the fantastic tale is not as simple as its plot suggests. In the forties of the 20th century, one summer day, on the bending shore of the magical, eternal river Yangtze, a woman met a young stranger she falls in love with. But he can't love her back, and she can't love him if she would have known why he has come here to find her and what kind of cruel crime the young man has committed... Butterfly is a modern fairy tale that explores passion beyond all forbidden boundaries and love tested to its limits to defy even death. Taking a stab at sensitive historical, social issues such as the Rape of Nanking, the question arises, what is love? Where is the salvation in all the heartlessness of mankind? Are we able to love, a deed that is so often taken for granted? Perhaps love is neither simple nor always pleasant or even inhuman. In the end the protagonists have to undergo a metamorphosis in order to be reunited again on the bank of the Yangtze river where they met seven decades ago. A shamelessly original work of art that you can read legally outside China. i New Beijing VoiceA tour de force. i Leanne Delehanty, author and visual artist. Butterfly is a book that reminds you of the joy of discovering a treasure, and wondering why there aren't a few hundred-thousand more who have already found it before you. i Unlikely stories. History is written only once, so is Butterfly by Julie O'Yang. i Young ChronicleA book that has all the essential ingredients that makes a bestseller. There never seems to be a damp moment with the right choice of words. i Creative EcstasyHighly recommended! i Bibliography Masters