A Map for the Missing: A Novel

If one wants to travel to China, this book provides the map. It is the story of a college professor teaching in the United States and searching for his father in his homeland of China. In order to return to the place of his birth, the professor is required to reunite with the past and fill in the missing spaces of his history and family relationships.

Initially, the main character is elusive, but as one reads further, the story captures his rich inner life and the shame that has plagued him into a narrow existence. Things happen to the main character without any volition on his part. Tang Vitian, the main character, is estranged from his father, who has gone missing. Vitian flies to China to search for his father, who has always been a distant and missing figure to his son.

In telling this intriguing story, the author also manages to underline the tremendous cost and deprivation caused by the revolution. Read this book for the travel, and through it, learn more about the world.