Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

In his debut novel, renowned China expert Orville Schell delves into the complexities of people whose lives have been historically upended by the tumult of political change, the pain of migration, and the separations of the Cold War that made it impossible to live in both worlds. In moving from non-fiction to fiction, Schell's sweeping historical novel takes us on a journey from the rise of Mao Zedong in 1949 to the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, as a classical musician and his son are swept away by a relentless series of devastating events. Through their lives, we follow the fault line between the United States and China—a divide that at times has been narrow and easily crossed, while at other times perilously wide. At a time when the U.S.-China divide is once again widening, Schell’s fictional characters speak volumes about the agonies of separation that may yet again become a reality. Join a unique discussion on U.S.-China relations (focusing on culture, music, religion and art as well as policy) with