Book Review: A Map Of Betrayal

 

A Deep Dive into the Complicated Lives Of Lilian and Gary Chang: My Review of Ha Jin's A Map of Betrayal

 Ha Jin's novel A Map of Betrayal leaves me wondering just how much do we really know the people in our daily lives? At an early age most of us are taught how mask our true selves and be what culture wants us to be.  This is a story about a man caught between two worlds, a life of duty and a past he can't escape.

The story opens with Lilian finding her recently encarcerated fathers journals and learning that her father has been living a secret life as a Chinese intelligence operative who reveals C.I.A documents to the Chinese government. Lilian also learns that her father has a secret family in China and uses her job as a professor to start working at a Chinese University to uncover more about the family she never knew.

What struck me most was the profound sense of isolation that pervades the novel. Gary is a man without a true home, living a lie in America and hauted by the family he left behind.  Ha Jin  masterfully portrays the quiet anguish of a man whose very identity is built on a foundation of lies yet using the story of his past to reveal the future of his daughter. They flashbacks and revelations, kept me engaged until the very end.

 A Map of Betrayal is an emotional and thought-provoking read. the novel challenges you to consider the nature of loyalty, the price of secrets, and what it truly means to be a patriot. It's a complex, beautifully written book that will stay with me for a long time. I wan't quite sure what to expect when I started this novel.  To be honest it took me a little while to fully enjoy what I was reading but by the end my emotions were high.  Sadness about a man who lived a lonely life and a daughter who was able to connect to a family she never knew and to be able to help them overcome the poverty they are living in.