The Library of Legends is a gorgeous poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group
from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1937 - only
to discover that danger stalks them from within. Janie Chang pens pure enchantment! -Kate Quinn
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Alice Network and The HuntressFrom the
author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel-the third in
a loosely-connected trilogy-in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of
student refugees fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan.Myths are the darkest and
brightest incarnations of who we are...China 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the
city of Nanking nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered
to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students faculty and staff must walk a
thousand miles to the safety of China's western provinces a journey marred by hunger cold
and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at
risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure a 500-year-old
collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends.Her family's past has made
Lian wary of forming attachments but the students' common duty to safeguard the Library of
Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome
and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested Lian
realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied
by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow Lian makes her way to Shanghai hoping to
reunite with her mother.On the journey Lian learns of the connection between her two
companions and a tale from the Library of Legends The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning
Shao and Sparrow's true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there
are broader consequences too for as the ancient books travel across China they awaken
immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own one that changes the
country's fate forever.Based on true events rich in Chinese history and lore The Library of
Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China's recent past and an evocative tale of
love sacrifice and the extraordinary power of storytelling.
