I found
Good Women to be both compelling and moving so was looking forward to reading this. It is, however not in the same league. The story is while it carries you a long nicely, lacks the intimacy of the stories in Xinran's previous title - probably because it is much longer. It is also somewhat implausible - too many unlikely events occurring in the right order. Still it is well written and is easy to read. It took me a while to figure it as fiction - and I think that might have coloured my appreciation - I was expecting something real.
