Having grown up surrounded by the politics of Beijing, Nima Lee always felt that the recent history of China has been largely misunderstood in the West. This has led to Nima’s debut book, The Colour of Red, a collection of short stories, which, although are entirely fictional, are a collection of true events in China between 1966 and 1976.

Nima was born in China and lived there for 30 years, before she moved to the UK. She now lives in Walford, near Ross-on-Wye, with her family.

She told the Ross Gazette that it is very important to her that her 21-year-old daughter is educated about her Chinese heritage, and she thought that an interesting way to do this would be bring history to life in a book.

Nima said that her book could be of particular interest to local readers for two main reasons. The first would be to understand China’s economic background. With the Brexit vote, the UK?are seeking to enter into trade deals outside of Europe. As China is an ever-growing economic superpower, the UK?regards it as an appealing trade partner. But Nima says that an understanding of Chinese culture is paramount to understand how the Chinese do business, and why they think the way that they do.

Another is reason is the recent election of President Trump in the USA. Nima told the Gazette that there are certain attributes that President Trump has displayed that are not unlike Chairman Mao. For example, Nima says that Trump and Mao have both made foreigners and outsiders appear to be the “enemy” to benefit themselves and their own power.

May 2016 marked the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. This period is vibrantly captured in a sequence of short stories, full of tragedy, humour and satire. In this collection, Nima Lee reveals the tribulations inflicted upon and the resilience of ordinary Chinese people through her variety of characters, including a ten-year-old girl, a journalist, red guards, university students and soldiers.

Nima spent 18 months writing her book, but she had been planning her short stories for many years.

Her daughter designed the front cover of the book and her husband helped to proof read the story. Nima went through a local publisher, Matador Books, to have her book released.

She explained that she went down the self-publishing route because she wanted to get her story out quickly, particularly as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural revolution.

The official publication date was Saturday, January 28th; Chinese New Year.

The Colour of Red is available online, via www.amazon.co.uk or via www.troubador.co.uk