The Vermilion Pencil

The Vermilion Pencil: A Romance of China is a novel by Homer Lea that tells the story of a young Chinese woman named Zira, who is forced to marry a wealthy landowner against her will. Zira dreams of becoming a painter and uses a vermilion pencil to create beautiful works of art, but her husband disapproves of her passion and forbids her from pursuing it. As Zira struggles to find happiness in her new life, she meets a young American missionary named John whom she falls in love with. Despite the cultural and societal barriers between them, Zira and John embark on a journey to escape her oppressive marriage and build a life together.Set against the backdrop of early 20th century China, The Vermilion Pencil explores themes of love, freedom, and the power of art to transcend cultural boundaries. Through Zira's story, Lea offers a poignant commentary on the struggles faced by women in traditional Chinese society and the challenges of cross-cultural relationships.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.