The Hard Life of a Village Sister-in-Law is a rural drama about family and morality.
The novel traces how Chinese women’s thinking changed during China’s reform and opening-up. Amid love, hate, and heartbreak, they remain caught in the inescapable web of traditional Chinese family ethics.
Chunni is forced by her parents to marry a mentally disabled man from a neighboring village in a marriage arranged in exchange for another. Faced with this unjust arrangement, she tries to flee and fight back, but has no idea how. In the end, she silently accepts the fate chosen for her. After becoming a mother, she unknowingly follows in her parents’ footsteps. Is it love or hate? Even she cannot say. At last, she leaves in tears, bringing her life to a close.
