Chang reveals all

What kind of book can be called an author's "strip-dance"? Eileen Chang, the writer of Lust, Caution, on which Ang Lee based his award-winning opus, gave an answer in her newly published autobiographical novel.

Named Little Reunion (Xiao Tuan Yuan), the book came out in Hong Kong and Taiwan late last month, 14 years after her death. It depicts Chang's relations with her family members and the bitter love story with her first husband Hu Lancheng, a collaborator for the Japanese during World War II.

For most non-Chinese readers, Chang is best known for Lust, Caution but in Chinese communities, she is an iconic figure who provided sharp insights into human emotions and has a wide group of fans, many of them writers themselves, including Chu T'ien-wen in Taiwan and Jia Pingwa on the mainland.