What's in the Grey?

Yun Yun lives with her widowed father in a quarter of an old people's home and their tie is strong with the family of Mrs Cai whom Yun calls auntie; nevertheless Mrs Cai treats her like her own daughter. Yun wants to spend her time especially with her cousin Zhang Qing – who is almost of the Yun's age but who has started to show sign of adolescence – and takes part in Qing's adolescent fantasy of being made-up or kissed. While Yun's father spends time playing chess with a neighbour, Yun passes most of her time at her auntie's home, listening to her cousin who wants to be grown-up soon or bearing her mood swings or having conversation with aunt who's especially curious about Yun's father and who feels it excessively urgent to take care of Yun Yun. As the story unfolds, cousin Qing seems to part away from Yun, however she takes interest in her cousin's affairs and promises to keep her secrets. Having learnt few things about what the adult men and women do from her cousin, Yun cannot keep it to herself and poses questions at the wrong person, which shows her innocence, caught in the world of grown-up behaviors and unable to make any sense of it. 

As Yun realizes that she is able to understand or predict the consequences of things¹ around her, she learns that the people close to her share some unknown history and personal secrets, and which still haunt them. Qing rebels against her mother for free will to have a boyfriend and spend time in her own way, and Yun observes the clashes between her cousin in adolescent crisis and her aunt whom her daughter thinks² is committing adultery. As the individuals and the two families intersect each other for better or worse, hitched in psychological tangles, Yun Yun finds herself alone with her wit and sharp eyes for details, fulfilling her natural curiosity³ – who is visited by the white horse in unexpected places and circumstances – meanwhile taking her own flight of being grown up and facing the myth of her birth. We take the view of Yun Yun, and the blanketed events, personalities and interests are only as evident to us as to her, and so is the world in the backdrop which is characterized by drama of deception.

1.       My dad squeezed her hand and said solemnly: 'That was a long time ago. It's all water under the bridge.' I suddenly thought of something very philosophical: The world is full of secrets… It certainly was.

2.       'My mum's such a bitch; what made my dad decide to marry her?'

3.       'Don't believe everything you see on TV,' my dad said. 'Only dirty foreigners kiss on the mouth. Chinese people don't.'

White Horse is a story of a child growing up and caught in the world of adults and their affairs, and whose ingenuousness is faced by human relations that may stand on weak or doubtful base and identity. Story, translation and the illustrations – the triad tells the story that is simple but sharp, and though Yun Yun carves a way out or within her space, we still dwell on the complexities of adult life, formed and cracked by love and misfortunes. The White Horse represents the enigma of the world standing on truth and lies, and where sometime we are left alone to be baffled by ourselves.

Author: Yan Ge

Translator: Nicky Harman

Illustrator: James Nunn

Publisher: HopeRoad Publishing

Page Count: 88pp

Price: $12.99

Author Photo Credit: https://www.hoperoadpublishing.com/authors/yan-ge

Review Copy Courtesy: HopeRoad Publishing