Reviews of Two Novels of China During Two Wars, 1918 and 1937: Historical Fiction

The Porcelain Moon

by 

Janie Chang

Genre: historical novel, WWI novel

Expected publication: February 21st, 2023; William Morrow

The historical aspect of this novel is as important if not more important than the novel's basic plot of marriage and romance in the early 1900s during WWI. 

Pauline Deng and her cousin Theo are Chinese who have spent many years living in France working in Theo's father's antique shop. They are both reluctant to return to Shanghai for arranged marriages to people they have never met.

I was also fascinated by the little known, overlooked part of history, of over 140,000 Chinese laborers and peasants  brought over to help the WWI war effort in Europe, in non-combatant work such as clearing battlefields, loading goods and ammunition on trucks and trains, keeping the railroads running, and soul-destroying jobs such as handling decayed corpses in the trenches.

Pauline and Theo are a fascinating part of the novel, as they struggle to keep their freer life in France, in spite of the war.  There is danger for both of them, and possible death, as they try to find their way during wartime France.

An excellent read. 

The Library of Legends

by 

Janie Chang

Published May 12th 2020 by William Morrow Paperbacks

Genre: historical fiction, magical realism, romance

Hu Lian and Shao, students at Minghua University in Nanking in war torn China of 1937, flee with their professors and other students into the countryside, taking for safe keeping the Library of Legends, precious books of Chinese literature. With the students is an immortal, a Star, posing as a humble servant girl. The magical elements of celestial beings, gods, guardian spirits, and other immortals pepper this novel, giving a fantastical flair to the novel that describes the drudgery and danger during this long and arduous trip.  Hu Lian and Shao later leave the group and travel to Shanghai to find their mothers, who are both in danger and ill. Their stories give a personal side to these historical events of universities moving to the Western provinces on foot, dodging the enemy planes and troops during the second Sino-Japanese War between China and the empire of Japan. The historical background, the mixture of the magical into the novel, the well developed characters, their romances, and their stories, and the legends made this book both informative and a delight to read. I had my fill of Chinese history from WWI and WWII eras, as I read the two books back to back and quickly wrote the reviews.  I was entralled by the lushness of the descriptive prose and the characters who were individualized and complex.  What are you reading this week?  Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

Bleeding Heart and Lonely Hearts: Book Reviews

Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publication: November 15, 2022

Genre: mystery, crime fiction, NetGalley

I've enjoyed many of Elly Griffiths' novels, though this is the first in this series for me. I was pleased as expected, and loved the intricate plotting and it subtle twists, the characterizations, and the whodunnit suspense.

The murder mystery revolves around The Group, a set of high school students at Manor Park School, who were always together, even when one of them, David, falls to his death in front of a moving train. Now, twenty years later, the remaining members of The Group are at a school reunion, where another one of them is murdered. Suspicion falls on all of them.

I loved that the mystery plot is not predictable, nor is the culprit or the reasons behind the murders. Another excellent mystery by the author.

View all my reviews (Goodreads)

Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim

Publication: August 16, 2022; Berkley

Genre: rom com, romance, magical realism, NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sophie Go moves out of her demanding and demeaning parents' home, determined to make it on her own as a matchmaker in Toronto, even though she is not accredited by the matchmaking school. Her skills are challenged by the Old Ducks, a group of lonely 70-year-old Chinese Canadian men, who hire her to find them suitable wives or partners.

Sophie is a very sympathetic individual as she struggles to help support her parents as well as herself,  while trying to show she can do the job she has always dreamed of. She becomes close to the Old Ducks, the septuagenarians who are her clients, mostly likeable characters, each personality having his own foibles, quirks, and skill sets.

The character delineations as well as the clever plot make this novel. Sophie becomes close to the Old Ducks while trying to find them love partners, and you wonder if she will also find her own match along the way.

Magical realism makes this rom com unique. Sophie can see the "red threads" of people's hearts that flare to indicate their interest or willingness to meet a special someone.  The matchmaking society or association to which she belongs is a group of people with special magical insights and skills.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

Book Review: The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson

The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: contemporary fiction, romance, women's fiction 

Publication: August 30, 2022, Berkley 

When Libby, newly arrived in London, decides to help elderly Frank find the girl he met and lost on the number 88 bus years ago, in 1962, she didn't realize her search would help not only Frank, but herself as well. Libby is estranged from her parents who disapprove of her wanting to be an artist, and she is on her own, but meets Frank and other people who enter her life for the better.

The relationship that develops between young Libby and the aged Frank is heartwarming, as is her determination to paste posters all over the city in order to find the girl Frank lost so many years ago when Frank misplaced her phone number written on that lost bus ticket.

The ending is not as we expected, but refreshing nevertheless, to finally have resolved the question of who the lost girl was and where life takes her. There is new meaning in life for Frank and new friends for Libby, as well as a new romance.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC.  


View all my reviews

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream by Jeannie Zusy: Sunday Salon

 

The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream: A Novel

by 

Jeannie Zusy

Publication, September 20, 2022, Atria Books

Description 

A very funny, occasionally romantic, and surprisingly moving novel about how one woman’s life is turned upside down when she becomes caregiver to her sister with special needs.

Every family has its fault lines, and when Maggie gets a call from the ER in Maryland where her older sister lives, the cracks start to appear. Ginny, her sugar-loving and diabetic older sister with intellectual disabilities, has overdosed on strawberry Jell-O.

Maggie knows Ginny really can’t live on her own, so she brings her sister and her occasionally vicious dog to live near her in upstate New York. Their other sister, Betsy, is against the idea but as a professional surfer, she is conveniently thousands of miles away.

Thus, Maggie’s life as a caretaker begins. It will take all of her dark humor and patience, already spread thin after a separation, raising two boys, freelancing, and starting a dating life, to deal with Ginny’s diapers, sugar addiction, porn habit, and refusal to cooperate. Add two devoted but feuding immigrant aides and a soon-to-be ex-husband who just won’t go away, and you’ve got a story that will leave you laughing through your tears as you wonder who is actually taking care of whom. (publisher)

My NetGalley/Goodreads review:

Bets, Ginny, and Maggie are the Frederick sisters whose relationships are featured in this novel. Maggie the third sister, becomes a caregiver for special needs middle sister Ginny, while the oldest, Bets, lives a life of California surfing.

Sisters and how they relate to one another, the sacrifices they make for one another, or sacrifices they don't make, are the themes. A surprising turn around at the end of the novel shows the sisters in a new light. 

The novel, however, takes too long to get to this point, frustrating the reader. The book could have been shorter and some of the middle events cut or omitted in order to get to the ending.

I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book and wished the main points, though surprising and thought provoking, could have been reached earlier.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

Sunday Salon: Contemporary Drama, Crime Novels

 Finished reading:

Meredith, Alone by  Claire Alexander Published June 23rd 2022 by Penguin Michael Joseph Genre: contemporary fiction, women's fiction

My goodreads/NetGalley review: Meredith has isolated herself indoors for 1,300 days and counting, until the time comes when she steps outside, prompted by the persistence of an internet friend Celeste; by a best friend who is the only friend to visit, by her online therapist Diane, and by a visiting social worker, Tom. I was moved by this group of people who become Meredith's support, never giving up on trying to get her out of the house and into society again. I also liked that the story behind Meredith's strange behavior is gradually revealed, and how she comes to face it and speak about it. Meredith is propelled to help the people she comes in contact with in person, on the internet, or from her front door and windows, and this also helps to get her away from her own problems. This is a sensitive, contemporary novel that looks at one person's trauma and its aftermath. The Couple at the Table (Spilling CID #11) by  Sophie Hannah Published January 27th 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton Genre: thriller, suspense My goodreads/NetGalley review: An unlikely scenario sets the stage for this psychological thriller, in which a couple, Jane and William, on their honeymoon, happen to be at the same resort as William's exwife and her new husband. This situation could be tricky and uncomfortable, and it is. Then when a murder occurs, the clues seem to make no sense and point to no one at the resort as the murderer as they all have alibis.  The novel very cleverly has the mystery resolve in an Agatha Christie fashion, with all the possible culprits facing a detective together at the end, and being grilled relentlessly in a controlled setting. This, before the detective reveals what really happened as he solves the crime. The main characters, the wife Jane in particularly, are ditsy personalities, which leads the reader to want to see more of where their extreme behavior will take them. Clever plotting and character development. Now reading:   City Under One Roof  by  Iris Yamashita Kindle Edition, 320 pages Expected publication: January 10th 2023 by Berkley Source: NetGalley Genre: crime fiction About:  A stranded detective tries to solve a murder in a tiny Alaskan town. where everyone lives in a single high-rise building. When a local teenager discovers a severed hand and foot on the shore of the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska, Cara Kennedy is on the case. A detective from Anchorage, she has her own motives for investigating the possible murder in this isolated place, which can be accessed only by a tunnel. (publisher) My review What are you reading this week?  Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

Sunday Salon: Touch by Olaf Olafsson

 

Touch

by 

Olaf Olafsson

Expected publication: August 16th 2022 by Ecco Press

Source: NetGalley

About: A mesmerizing, panoramic story of one man's search to find a lover who suddenly disappeared decades before.

When the pandemic hits, Kristofer is forced to shutter his successful restaurant in Reykjavik, sending him into a spiral of uncertainty, even as his memory seems to be failing. But an uncanny bolt from the blue--a message from Miko Nakamura, a woman whom he'd known in the sixties when they were students in London--both inspires and rattles him, as he is drawn inexorably back into a love story that has marked him for life. (publisher)

My review: I was delighted to read a domestic drama/romance that is more serious than a light rom com and ends, nevertheless, on a happy and hopeful note. The sensitivity of the main characters is essential to this novel as it pulls you into a story of the love between two people from very different backgrounds, of a love lost, and a mystery that ends with surprises.

An enjoyable read about a relationship that spans the years between youth and old age.

Now reading:

The Resort

by 

Sue Watson

Genre: psych thriller

Published June 24th, 2022 by Bookouture

About: When a dream trip becomes your worst nightmare…

You’ve been excited about this getaway for months – at last, a chance to reconnect with your husband at a secluded island resort. But when he unexpectedly calls you from the beach, you hear the urgency in his voice. Something is very wrong.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

 

The Bone Records by Rich Zahradnik: Sunday Salon

 New book arrival

The Bone Records 

by Rich Zahradnik 

•  1000 Words A Day Press (November 1, 2022)
•  November 1, 2022
• About:  Grigg Orlov discovers an eerie piece of evidence at the scene of his father’s brutal murder: a disc-shaped X-ray of a skull. It’s a bone record—what Soviet citizens called banned American songs recorded on used X-rays. But the black-market singles haven’t been produced since the sixties. What’s one doing in Coney Island in 2016?
• 
  

 "The Bone Records grabs you by the throat on the very first page, then never slows down as it takes you on a wild ride through New York City streets filled with Russian intrigue, underworld crime, police corruption and a man's desperate quest to avenge his father's murder. Shamus Award-winner Rich Zahradnik has written a taut, terrifically exciting and thought-provoking thriller." —R.G. Belsky, award-winning author of the Clare Carlson mystery series

"The plot is not only timely, but utterly unique—a tale of cultures colliding, often with sudden and unexpected consequences, as lonely city claims-adjuster Grigg Orlov spends his long nights chasing down leads on the mysterious disappearance of his father... This is a compelling read, highly recommended." —LA Times bestselling author Baron R. Birtcher

"A fast-paced thriller set around Coney Island during the tumultuous lead-up to the 2016 presidential election... The Bone Records is a well-crafted mountain of intrigue and non-stop action." —Bruce Robert Coffin, award-winning author of the Detective Byron Mysteries

"A wonderfully flawed protagonist and a complex mystery combine with current events in Zahradnik's best novel to date. The Bone Records had me hooked from page one." —Elena Taylor, award-winning author of All We Buried and the Eddie Shoes mystery series

About the Author

Rich Zahradnik is the author of the thriller The Bone Records and four critically acclaimed mysteries, including Lights Out Summer, winner of the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America. He was a journalist for twenty-seven years and now lives in Pelham, New York.

Thanks to Wiley at Saichek Publicity for a review/feature copy.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday