Brothers (2006)

Packed with archetypes and magical coincidences that give it the heft of legend, Da Chen's novel Brothers traces the fates of a communist general's two sons. Shento, his illegitimate child with a provincial beauty (''the Village Bloom''), is orphaned, abused, recruited by the secret police, and becomes an authoritarian political thug. Shento's true love is Sumi Wo, his long-lost orphanage sweetheart whose face is like ''an exotic mountain bloom.'' Meanwhile, Tan, the general's adored legitimate son, attends university and becomes a publishing mogul. Tan's true love: the same Sumi Wo. This is broad-strokes fiction with a few too many blossom-like ladies, but it's a fun, old-fashioned read.