The Drink and Dream Teahouse is a historical romance set in a moribund rural town in contemporary China. Through the lives of its central characters, it chronicles the transition from a communist society to the uncertainties of the future. The characters are largely emblematic and accommodate traditional Chinese culture with emergent capitalist and Western ideas: Old Zhu, the keeper of the old communist faith and founder of the factory; Da Shah, his entrepreneurial son and part of the Tiananmen Square generation; Madam Fan, the local amateur opera singer and her daughter Peach. Autumn Cloud let out a long sigh. What terrible days. She and Party Secretary Li had worked hard to build China. Even though they were newlyweds, they hardly saw each other for days or sometimes weeks. He had been in charge of the Prostitute Re-education Centre and she had been working in the Political Press Office. Dreams of modernising the country had driven them on. It was like they had been married to the country. The momentous events in recent Chinese history which the novel spans are covered in the reminiscences of characters who battle to contain the confusion and power of such historical forces. At best, the prose is wistful and languorous and Hill has flashes of descriptive flair, a good eye for the occasional telling detail--though whether The Drink and Dream Teahouse realises its epic aspirations is an open question. --Neville Hoad