Border Town by Jeffrey C. Kinkley Paperback Book 9780061436918

The granddaughter of a poor ferryman Cuicui grows up in Chadong a small town in Chinas exotic southwestern frontier where she is sheltered from the warlord fighting that was prevalent in China in the 1920s Shes caught up in the spell of the local custom of nighttime serenades but she is also haunted by her grandfathers imminent death