When published in her native Taiwan in 2017, Lin Yi-Han’s debut novel had a huge impact: the story of a 13-year-old girl, Fang Si-Chi, being groomed by a teacher at her “cram” school, it helped motor the country’s #MeToo movement and usher in stricter laws on screening tutors.
But Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise was also to be her only novel: Lin killed herself at 26, just months after publication. Her family revealed that the book was based on Lin’s own experience of sexual abuse. An online manhunt for the real-life teacher – not unlike that following Baby Reindeer recently – ensued.
Now, with the novel having sold more than a million copies worldwide, Jenna Tang’s translation arrives in English, capturing the acute honesty of Lin’s fictionalised account as well as her inventively image-laden style. It makes for a unique, if painful, reading experience.
The novel opens from the perspective of Liu Yi-Ting, Si-Chi’s best friend. The two girls – wealthy, sheltered, precociously well read – grew up inseparable. But when Si-Chi finally tells Yi-Ting that Teacher Lee, a married man 37 years older, is her “boyfriend”, Yi-Ting is horrified. Not long after, Si-Chi goes insane – and the story starts over, from her perspective.
In her telling, Lin powerfully reveals not only how Teacher Lee manipulates Si-Chi into believing that coercive sex is a sign of love, how it is her fault for being “too beautiful”, but also the woozy mental leaps Si-Chi takes to protect herself. Being raped is too horrific; she tells herself she loves him, because otherwise she’ll be “in too much pain”.
Also woven in is Teacher Lee’s callous perspective on his serial abuse of students, as well as the story of a kindly neighbour, Iwen who is beaten by her husband. In sum, the book offers a damning vision of sexist double standards, entrenched victim-blaming and dangerous power imbalances within Taiwanese society. No wonder it sparked urgent conversations.
Still, there’s an unhurried fineness to Lin’s writing, even as characters go through horrific high dramas. Tang’s translation can feel convoluted or overly formal – these characters saying “Oh my gosh” reads oddly, for instance – and I’m undoubtedly missing various literary allusions. But what does shine is Lin’s eye. She also has a real gift for a striking image: tears grow “from seeds to beans”, while lit candles “gained bald patches and dripped wax down their bodies”. How heartbreaking that this is the only chance we’ll get to see the world through her eyes.
• Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise by Lin Yi-Han (translated by Jenna Tang) is published by HarperVia (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
• In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
