Yet the Crabapples Still Bloom

Using the begonias in the general’s residence as its central image, the story unfolds like a classical epic, tracing the fate of a nation and the world, along with tangled love and hate, through blossoms and falling leaves. Here are women’s courage and tenderness, the helplessness and defiance of fate, and, between propriety and true feeling, a lingering devotion and steadfastness that says, “And yet the begonias are still in bloom.” Theme: Girls’ love