This is a rare book with incredible span. The author not only creates a rich tapestry of characters, she also straddles two separate worlds. With effortless elegance. Moving from a Chinese activist to your regular American family, all the while traveling the distance from Beijing to Los Angeles. Nell Freudenberger’s debut novel The Dissident is an ambitious attempt that succeeds. So instead of being a complex read, it is actually just the opposite. The rhythm, the pace, the storyline are easy, like a gentle inhalation and exhalation. Or a beautiful piece of art. Which is the crux of the novel.

A Chinese political activist and performance artist, Yuan Zhao, is invited to America to teach art to college girls. He is a guest of a wealthy family in Los Angeles but it soon becomes evident that their guest is not what he appears to be. But neither is the Travers family. Cece and Gordon aren’t happy any more in spite of outward appearances. Their son Max was caught with a gun. Their daughter Olivia is flirting with anorexia. And to add to their problems, Gordon’s brother Phil makes a reappearance. A failure once, he has hit the big time with the sale of his script to a Hollywood company. Except the story revolves around his affair with Cece.

Cut to the story of Zhao and his life at the “East Village” of Beijing. A time when art was beginning to make its voice felt and the government was beginning to show signs of complete displeasure. His cousin “X” initiates him to the movement and it is here — in these recollections — that the novel shows its greatest spark. As performance artistes their biggest question is whose art is it anyway. “If I photograph him, then it is art, no matter who’s making it. Problem is — without him I’m nothing; without me his work disappears. That’s the big question, see? Whose art is it?” In a sense this is also the answer to the question. It certainly is central to the development and thought of the storyline. So whether Zhao is secretive or getting intimate with a student, what you see is not what you get.

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