A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

by Suzanne Joinson, Bloomsbury USA, May, 2012                                                        ... good story, great atmosphere, likeable characters and interesting plot

This story of two sisters who go off in missionary service to Kashgar (western China on the Silk Road) is set in 1923. One sister Elizabeth has a strong religious calling fostered by her mentor Millicent an older worldly woman. The second sister and story narrator Evangeline has very different motives.  Eva desires to leave England and have adventures. She has been given a book contract to relate her experiences cycling in the Far East (hence the title). Accompanied by Millicent the ladies set off on their adventures and adventures they do have!  First off, they assist a pregnant mother who delivers a baby girl on the roadside and promptly dies. The missionaries take the newborn along with them.They arrive in Kashgar to a very unwelcoming crowd of Moslems, Chinese, Turkmen and others. Millicent and Elizabeth throw themselves passionately into attempting to convert the locals to Christianity; Evangeline can see the fruitlessness and even danger in their work but is powerless to stop this force.Without giving too much away let’s just say things go downhill from there.

In a present day story that is intertwined the author introduces Frieda, an English woman   who has worked in the Moslem world for a think tank trying to sort out the problems in the communication between Christians and Moslems.  Frieda is weary of her rootless, peripatetic life and her needy lover Nathaniel when she meets Tayeb a Yemeni immigrant on the lam from the authorities.  At the same time she is notified that she is the sole heir to a woman that she has never heard of.  Frieda and Tayeb develop a supportive relationship and assist each other in coping with mysteries and changes in their lives. 

In the last third of the book the two narratives come together in a clever way.  I liked this story, the 1923 parts better than the present day narrative.  The exotic and strange life style and customs of  Kashgar were fascinating.  I also appreciated the elements of true history interspersed into the story - rebellions, uprisings and battles.  I liked the writing style; it was straightforward and evocative of the time and place without being overly descriptive.  I thought that most of the characters were well developed with clear motivations; I did struggle with the motivations of Millicent.

So for me this was good story, well written with great atmosphere, likeable characters and an interesting plot.  

 I read an advanced copy of this novel provided by the publisher.

Dreams of Joy

Dreams of Joy: A Novel

by Lisa See, Random House, May 2011

...lots of action, a genuine historical setting, characters that we have grown to know and like.

This story picks up where Shanghai Girls - a story about Pearl and May- two Shanghai sisters ended. The novel opens in the late 1950’s, with Joy, a Chinese–American girl raised as Pearl’s daughter but actually May’s daughter, leaving for China.  Joy is estranged from her mother and aunt and is returning to China to discover her true roots, participate in the building of the People’s Republic and find her real father (get the soap opera qualities of this story yet?).
Joy finds her father, Z.G., a famous communist artist. She accompanies him as he is sent to the Chinese countryside for “reeducation”. In the countryside Joy falls in love with Tao a young villager who aspires to be an artist like Z.G. Meanwhile Pearl has followed Joy to China to attempt to reconcile with her and have Joy return to the U.S.
The story is told in alternating first person narratives by Joy and Pearl, a technique that works well here.  Without giving you blow by blow of the story, suffice to say every horrible aspect of China’s struggles in the late 1950’s and early 60s are depicted in the lives of Joy, Pearl, Tao and Z.G. Scenes of public denunciation and punishment for all who are deemed not “red” enough are integral to the story. The disillusionment of the Chinese when communism is discovered to be the latest iteration  of failed government to inflicted misery on the poor people of this country is shown.  The starvation that killed millions in China when The Great Leap Forward failed is movingly portrayed in the story. Almost unimaginable things – cannibalism, and other barbaric practices were not unknown through this time period. Lastly the struggles of people to leave China and escape to Hong Kong and the west are also chronciled  here.

I know the review reads like soap and in some ways the story does also but it really is a good read - lots of action, a genuine historical setting, characters that we have grown to know and like. If you read and liked Shanghai Girls, you will enjoy this one. If you haven’t I’d read that one before reading Dreams of Joy. If you want to read Lisa See's best historical fiction read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan a fabulous book

I read an advanced reader copy of this novel provided by the publisher. 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford, Ballantine Books, Oct 2009

...a well told story of family, romance and history that will stick with you long after the last page is read

This is the story of Henry Lee, a first generation Chinese American who grew up in war time Seattle. The narrative alternates seamlessly between 1980s and the 1940’s. In 1985 Henry is a middle aged widower who has recently lost his wife after a long illness where he was her primary care giver. He has a college age son, Marty, with whom he has difficulty communicating. As he walks through the International district of Seattle he comes upon the Panama Hotel, a long shuttered landmark from old Japantown. The Panama Hotel is being renovated and during the renovation artifacts from the war years are uncovered. The hotel bestirs memories of his boyhood and a friendship he had with Keiko Okabe a Japanese American girl. Their unlikely friendship began when both were scholarship students in a school where they were ostracized because of their ethnicity. They share a love of American jazz and a friendship with a local sax player, Sheldon. Keiko is a budding artist and sketches people and sites in Seattle. Henry’s parents are strong Chinese nationalists, pro-American and bitterly opposed to the Japanese. Henry defies his parents in maintaining this relationship even as Keiko and her family are interred in “relocation” camps. Henry’s relationship with his father is damaged because of his continued attachment to Keiko. In 1985 Henry now searches for remnants of their relationship in the basement of the Panama Hotel. In engaging his son and his son’s fiancée in this search, both learn things about each other that enable them to strengthen their relationship.


This is essentially a story about relationships enriched with the events of wartime Seattle. The author does a splendid job in recreating the events around war time internment of Japanese Americans. I appreciated that the author presented these events in non-judgmental way, letting the racism and prejudices of times speak for themselves. Chinese Americans routinely wore buttons that said “I am Chinese” to distinguish themselves from the Japanese in Seattle. The impact on the removal of the Japanese from the city is dramatic and well described. You really get the sense of impact this event had on the city and its people both Japanese and others.


The relationships make up the meat of this story. The interactions between Henry and his father and Henry and his son are fascinating. Immigrant families where the parents desire to have their children become Americans pitted against their fears that all the customs from the old countries will not be valued provide fertile ground for the storyteller. Additionally the relationship of Henry and Keiko is a good recounting of a first romance.  Overall though I did think the writing was a little uninspired and clichéd and that for me made this a good but not great novel. 


I do recommend this debut novel, it is a well told story of family, romance and history that will stick with you long after the last page is read.

I read a copy of this book borrowed from The Free Library of Philadelphia.

The Emperor's Tomb

The Emperor's Tomb (Cotton Malone)

by Steve Berry

Nov, 2010

Ballantine Books

 

If you read this blog you know I am addicted to mystery/thrillers, so I was happy to pick up a new author in Steve Berry. The Emperor’s Tomb is Berry’s fifth novel to feature Cotton Malone as the protagonist. There is some back story to the characters that I could not quite figure out from reading this novel, but it really didn’t impede following the story. The setting is current day China and the action centers on the recovery of a lamp from the third century B.C. In addition to the mystery part of the story there is a strong dose of Chinese philosophy and politics mixed in. The action rockets back and forth between China and Europe as government (US, Russian and Chinese) spies fight it out for control of this lamp and the secrets it holds that will solve world energy problems. Planes crash, agents are killed with alarming regularity, chapters end with gunfire and then the action jarringly moves to another perspective. The writing is choppy with short chapters, one sentence paragraphs, and six word sentences. The characters are stilted and one dimensional.

Reading mystery/thrillers requires some suspension of belief to accept the tenets of a good yarn, but I felt that this story was just implausible in so many ways. Berry does provide notes on the research he has done to support the plot premise but I didn’t buy it. I read an advanced reader copy, so there is the possibility that some of the more outrageous story elements will fall out with editing but I think not nearly enough to keep this author on my radar screen.

I read an advanced reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.

Wild Swans

Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang

Simon & Shuster

2001

This is an epic book. I can’t imagine that anyone will write a narrative of 20th century China that will approach the richness of detail, breath of topic and unsettling nature of this work. The author tells the tale through the stories of three women – her grandmother Yu-Fang, her mother Bao-Qin and herself. China’s 20th century included the demise of the feudal warlords, the Japanese invasion, the fall of the Nationalist (Kuomintang) government, the rise of Mao-Tse-Tung, the installation of communism as the national government, and the chaotic Cultural Revolution. Jung Chang’s family is caught up in all of these events.

Her grandmother was born into feudal China. Her feet were broken and bound in an effort to keep them from growing, a practice common in the first half of the twentieth century in China. She was essentially sold as a concubine to a warlord (translate gangster) general twice her age. She spent very little time with him but did conceive one child, the author’s mother. She then marries a Manchurian (Manchuria a place more foreign that China if that is possible) doctor, has some frightening experiences with both the doctor’s family and then during the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.

The author’s mother, Bao-Qin, is an early convert to communism. It is not hard to understand how communism engaged the people of China. The repressive nature of the Nationalist regime and the obscene difficulty of life (famine and starvation were common, women were held as property) made the communist movement an attractive egalitarian choice. The author’s father, Wang-Yu, is also with Mao early in the communist movement. He actually makes The Long March with Mao. Her father dedicates his life to the principles of the communist movement, an allegiance later betrayed. Both of her parents are senior officials, intellectuals and enthusiastic nation builders as the communists take over China and try to improve conditions for the populace. The early years of the communists are good, and much of China thrives. The government evolves into a personality cult of Chairman Mao and the country essentially falls apart in the 60’s. I found the descriptions of the events of the Cultural Revolution horrifying. Mao did not persecute the country using government agencies but he incited the people to turn on one another. It was heartbreaking and frightening to see the evil that people inflicted on their friends and neighbors. The author’s family survives this period, but barely. Her father who had dedicated his life to the communist agenda is denounced and arrested when he takes principled stands against corruption. He is “relocated” to the countryside for years of “reeducation”. He suffers a nervous breakdown and is dead at the age of 54. Her mother is also denounced and relocated. The author recounts her time as a Red Guard and her very gradual disillusionment with Mao and his actions. The Cultural Revolution which started slowly in the late 1950s doesn’t really end until 1975 – almost 20 years of torture for China.

The book ends when Chairman Mao dies, the Cultural Revolution is over and some semblance of normalcy returns to China. Education at all levels had been suspended for 8 years and is slowly reestablished. The author is able to leave a factory job and through merit become a university student studying English.

This is not a book to be read in a short sitting. You really could walk away from it for a couple days as some of the scenes are very intense and gripping. It can be hard to believe you are reading non-fiction. The author clearly and interestingly tells you the story of her family.   I think though it is an important book giving witness to cataclysmic events through the eyes of three incredibly strong women.  I was familiar with much of this history but had no understanding of the Chinese people and what they have endured until I read this story.   I’d recommend it for anyone traveling to China or interested in Chinese history. I was in China in 1984 and would have loved to have had read this story before that assignment.