It is the time of the Cultural Revolution in a communist governed country in Maoist China, hundreds of "young intellectuals" are taken out of their schools, forbidden to read anything other than the little red book of Mao's sayings, disassociated from their parents, and sent to "the Phoenix of the Sky" to be "reeducated" in this mountainous village. Of the many adolescents is "The Little Seamstress" in "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie. "The princess of Phoenix mountain"(p.21) however, is not a prisoner of the mountain forced to perform manual labor. Following her meeting with a fellow character, Luo and his nameless narrator friend they introduce the seamstress to a hidden supply of forbidden books in attempts to transform her from a simple peasant into a sophisticated woman. Among the books are authors such as Balzac, Hugo, and Dumas. Subsequently this changes the seamstress'...