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Youth chronicles the lives of a group of idealistic young people who join a People's Liberation Army dance troupe at the end of the Cultural Revolution, following their story through China's upheavals of the 1970s until the period of opening in the 1990s; from escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives in this coming-of-age tale. A sensational motion picture of the same title directed by Chinese filming legend Feng Xiaogang was based on this book.

上世纪七十年代，一些有文艺才能的少年男女从大江南北挑选出来，进入某部队文工团，担负军队文艺宣传的特殊使命。郝淑雯、林丁丁、何小曼、萧穗子在这个团队里朝夕相处，她们才艺不同、性情各异，碰撞出不乏黑色幽默的情境。严格的军纪和单调的训练中，青春以独有的姿态绽放芳华。小说用四十余年的跨度，展开她们命运的流转变迁，是为了讲述男兵刘峰的谦卑、平凡及背后值得永远探究的意义。

《芳华》涵盖了严歌苓的青春与成长期，她在四十余年后回望这段经历，笔端蕴含了饱满的情感。青春荷尔蒙冲动下的少男少女的懵懂激情，由激情犯下的过错，由过错生出的懊悔，还有那个特殊的时代背景，种种，构成了《芳华》对一段历史、一群人以及潮流更替、境遇变迁的复杂感怀。今天的作者严歌苓与当时的小女兵萧穗子在作品里构成了理性与感性的对话关系，重新呈现了当时年代里青春的混沌、感性与蒙昧。生命的恣肆与人性的层次以及时代的的特征构成了《芳华》繁复的调性，它向读者打开了多层面的认识路径。