Although I give "A Single Swallow" four stars, I really consider it about a 3.5 because for the past few days I've been going between "I love it!" and "I wish it was different."

It is a beautiful story of a woman, told through the view and experiences of three men that shaped her life after the three men have died. The story itself often flows at a nice pace, giving the reader just the right amount of tension and "ah-ha!" moments as the stories of the three men start to weave with each other.


It is wonderful to be able to experience the world through works from around the world-- but it is also difficult to know whether the book feels 'off' because of the translation or because of the book. For example, there was an interlude told from the perspective of two dogs. As much as I wanted to enjoy their perspective, the humanizing of the dogs in that particular point of the story didn't work for me. I don't know if it was because the translation made the animals awkward, or if it was the story itself.

The ending was not very satisfying- you know where a lot of the story is going to to because three of the main characters are dead at the beginning of the story. Most of the story itself was an enjoyable read and I think there is a lot to learn about Chinese culture and society in WW2 and into the start of Communist China. This would make a great group read and discussion.

Thank you Netgalley and AmazonCrossing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.