Through the third book club meeting, my role as Literary Luminary brought a palette of both hope and despair. Forbidden City does not bode a happy ending, so neither did our discussions. The talk of death and betrayal had set a vice grip around our ideas that translated into our discussions, and dishonesty was quick to be added in that list. However, an unlikely glimmer of hope exists in every dark hour. Firstly, in Forbidden City, many protesters died standing up to the military that was sent to clear them from Tiananmen Square. Then horrifyingly, their corpses were burned. I asked my group, “What do you think that the Chinese government could accomplish burning [civilian corpses]?” They responded, “China could deny any deaths then, right?”
