Fang Si-Chis First Love Paradise – Lin Yi Han

The novel follows the story of Fang Si-chi, an academically gifted 13-year-old girl from an upscale neighborhood in Taiwan, who loves literature and books. Lee Guo-hua, a respected cram literature teacher and serial predator living in the same building, offers free tutoring to Si-chi and her friend Liu Yi-ting. Unbeknownst to their parents, Lee grooms and sexually abuses Si-chi over a period of years, from age thirteen until her eventual psychological breakdown at eighteen and subsequent admission to a mental health facility. 

Unable to discuss the abuse with others due to societal taboos and shame, Si-chi internalizes her trauma and attempts to cope by convincing herself that her ordeal is a twisted “first love paradise”. The novel uses multiple perspectives, including that of the teacher, another victim, and a neighbor who is also in an abusive marriage, to illustrate the pervasive nature of gender-based violence and the collective societal silence that allows it to continue unchecked. The narrative highlights how literature, which Si-chi turns to for guidance, fails to offer an honest language for rape or coping with trauma.