Field of Vision
Michael Jarivs, 2012
Field of Vision Books
373 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780988538924
Summary
Photographer Jake Mayfield, undertaking a personal quest for artistic integrity, finds beauty, passion, and racial discord on the lush and feral Caribbean island of Soufriere.
On his first day there he has a run-in with Rollo Joseph, a dangerous pseudo-rasta whose presence haunts him both physically and psychologically as their conflict escalates by surprising yet almost inevitable degrees. Mayfield takes refuge in the company of Sheila Faber, the German proprietor of the Red Ginger Restaurant, and in the arms of her employee Rita Blanford, a reticent native girl.
In a panorama of island life the story moves back and forth from the streets of Granville, the capital town and Rollo’s turf, to the verdant surroundings of the Red Ginger and the tropical forests of the island’s highest peak, to the ramshackle seaside village of Pagan Bay, as Mayfield’s journey spirals downward into paranoia and criminal tourism.
Part existential adventure, part love story, this earthy and idiosyncratic novel is a descriptive and sometimes humorous account of man’s essential dilemmas, a microcosm of sex, war and survival.
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Montgomery, Alabama, USA
• Raised—Alabama, Texas, Ohio, Guam, Georgia, England
• Education—B.F.A., B.A., Florida International University
• Currently—lives in Miami, Florida
Michael Jarvis was born on a U.S. air force base and traveled regularly, living as a child in Guam, Georgia, and England. He graduated from Florida International Univesity and lives in Miami, scouting locations for various film projects and writing fiction.
His short story "American Kestrel" was published in The Secret of Salt: An Indigenous Journal (Key West) in 2008. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Michael on Facebook.
Book Reviews
This gritty novel is both an adventure and a love story, but ultimately it’s a tale of survival in a paradise-like setting turned dark and threatening.... This is a skillfully written tale, with fully rendered characters, a keen ear for dialogue and dialect, and an eye for description. There is a fine balance between the beauty of an island escape and the threat that seems always to linger just beyond.The author is adept at continually raising the stakes, and fulfills the reader’s expectation that he will see the story line through to a realistic end.
BlueInk Review
Field of Vision is the lyrical, simmering story of a jaded photographer occasionally named Jake who, at age 27, is unafraid to take pictures of a man who threatens to kill him....
As he slowly surveys the physical and human landscape of tropical Soufriere....[he] is as absorbed in the chaotic beauty of his surroundings as much as in the gradual awakening of his own soul....
Author Michael Jarvis writes masterfully. There are very few wasted sentences here; even casual descriptions, such as that of a meal in a restaurant, are seeded with life... Each character comes fully formed, and with an engrossing story of their own.... Much like a diamond cutter paring away at a gem, Field of Vision is excellence in its rawest form, awaiting the seasoned eye of a talented editor. Readers of literary fiction will rejoice in the majestic sweep of the text, and the sultry atmosphere that pours out of every page.
Julia Lai - IndieReader
Discussion Questions
1. Does the book grab your attention at the outset and hold it throughout? Why? Do you feel the story is plot-driven, like a thriller, or are there other elements that keep you reading? Does the story seem slow, or is the pace to your liking? Is anything in the story predictable?
2. How do you feel about the main character? Are you sympathetic to his situation? Do his actions disturb you in any way? Are his actions justified? Does he surprise you?
3. How do the book’s descriptive passages affect your reading experience? Do you get involved in detailed renderings of nature and island life? How does the present tense contribute to your reading experience?
4. The main character is a photographer and the story is told through his eyes. Does this make the story feel cinematic in its unfolding? Does it seem like you’re there?
5. The narrative point of view shifts from first-person to second-person in the fourth part, then back to first-person for the final section. How does this shift affect your involvement with the story? What was the author’s purpose in making this change?
6. Did the various characters engage you? What about the animals? Who was your favorite character? Why?
7. Is the ending satisfying? Did you wish something else had happened? Were you shocked by anything?
8. What themes does the author explore? How do the title and the epigraphs affect your understanding of the novel? What did you learn by reading this book? Would you read more fiction by this author?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
Blind Sky
Kerry S. Gordon, 2014
Biblio Publishing
395 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781622491742
Summary
Faith is her Ultimate Weapon.
After brutal slayings in her home town and her mother’s murder, Sky enlists with Logue, a recruiting agency that trains assassins to kill enemies of Australian government.
And on assignment to locate Lars, a head sector in division 19, a division separate from all other divisions in Australia and one bounded by secrecy, Sky embarks on a treacherous operation and soon finds herself as the prey and becomes a target on everyone’s wanted list.
Those belonging to Division 19 live in a world with no diseases, guaranteed vitality, youth and unspeakable power and anyone threatening exposure has to be removed, and they will stop at nothing to make sure their secrets are protected.
Watch the book trailer.
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Kingston, Jamaica
• Education—B.A., Rollins College
• Currently—Central Florida, USA
Kerry Gordon is a freelance writer for Demand Media Studios, worked twelve years in administration, management, security surveillance, and briefly as a secretary in immigration law.
She is the author of Blind Sky (2014), enjoys tea, reruns of Sex and the City, Marvel Comic book movies, yoga, trying foods from different cultures, and would like to travel more, as her destinations so far include Bonn and Cologne Germany, and Paris France.
The inspiration for Blind Sky came after watching a program on the History Channel about the Lost City of Atlantis, with many scholars, researchers and historians speculating centuries of myths, mysteries and stories of this highly advanced civilization which has been debated to exist, but suddenly disappeared and possibly underwater, fostering the birth of Blind Sky, a concept of an advanced group of citizens living on earth in a world of prestige, unimaginable power and vitality and supreme technological advancement all under immense secrecy. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Book Reviews
Excitingly delicious!! One of this genre's best upcoming talents... Kerry S. Gordon is definitely one to look out for. Her writing style is crisp and unique in not only delivery but how she also reels you into her world...keeping you longing for more. It was an intense ride to say the least. I rather enjoyed myself and feel as though I know her a little better now having this experience. I wish her the very best.
~triniucf - Networx4us
Exhilarating, captivating and exciting. Kerry S. Gordon is definitely a unique writer, her style is one that captivates and keeps you wanting more. I enjoyed the intense, thrilling and exciting ride.This should be made into a movie...Awesome!!!
Cutie Sellier-Amazon
I like the high-intensity back story, depicting Sky’s days as a newly minted assassin. Whether we're in the present or the past, it seems there's always the potential for conflict. The author does a nice job of setting up sharp contrasts between the various members of the agency. It would be easy to have them all depicted as soulless killers or hyperactively aggressive, but she definitely lends each a sense of nuance that goes beyond there deadly vocation. Nicely done!
Paul Toth-Authonomy Review
Kerry’s writing is wonderful, and she does a great job jumping right into the story and the action. Everything is done so well!!!
D. Anastasia Paul- Writer
Discussion Questions
1.Describe some of the reasons Sky decides to join Logue agency, and consider why Sky keeps this a secret from her dad. Do you think it’s in Sky’s father’s best interest that she keeps this secret from him? And how does this affect their relationship?
2.How does Sky and Derek’s friendship/relationship change throughout the story?
3.What role does Galen play in helping Sky, and why does Galen’s father Herrin have a problem with Galen helping her? Are Herrin’s reasons justified as a father?
4.What are some of the confinements and regulations citizens of division 19 are subjected to? Do you find these to be morally right and acceptable?
5.Who do you think is behind or orchestrated Sky’s mother’s murder?
6.How has Sky’s, introduction into Galen’s division and revelation about Lars and her mother influence their relationship? In what ways has Sky changed or influenced the way Galen later views his division?
7. Who is the best guy for Sky, Derek or Galen? And why?
8. Sky’s view and faith changed after dealing with death. Has a life event or situation made you change or question your faith? If so, explain why your views or faith changed, and whether or not you found your way back to your faith or not.
9.Considering citizens in division 19 live in a society with no disease, vitality, immense wealth, and just about anything at their disposal (i.e. food, luxury, and technology) are the restriction, hormone regulation, and secrecy placed by the sectors and leaders justified? Is a society like this appealing to you? Why or why not? And in general, do you believe we all have to sacrifice and give up something to sustain a certain lifestyle? (An example can be taking a job with a greater salary, but time away from family, or relocating to another city or country that you don’t like, but will for the money).
10.Were you surprised, shocked, or angry at the way things ended for Sky, or the ending in general?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
My Year of Meats
Ruth Ozeki, 1998
Penguin Group (USA)
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780140280463
Summary
My Year of Meats. It changed my life. You know when that happens—when something rocks your world, and nothing is ever the same after?
When Jane Takagi-Little, an unemployed Japanese-American documentary filmmaker, answers the phone at two in the morning, her life is forever altered. She accepts a job working on My American Wife!, a Japanese television show sponsored by an American national lobby organization that represents American meats of all kinds—beef, pork, lamb, goat, and horse, just to name a few.
In the early-morning hours, wrapped in a blanket and huddled over her computer keyboard, Jane writes a pitch for the new program: “Meat is the Message. . . .It’s the meat (not the Mrs.) who’s the star of our show! She must be attractive, appetizing, and all-American. She is the Meat Made Manifest: ample, robust, yet never tough or hard to digest.” And so Jane, a self-described polyracial prototype, embarks on her year of meats, zigzagging across the country in search of healthy American wives.
Akiko Ueno, the bulimic Japanese wife of the executive who hatched the My American Wife! concept, lives an ocean away. She is thin, so thin that her bones hurt, so thin that her periods have stopped. If only she would eat more meat, her husband thinks, surely she would become “ample, robust, yet never tough or hard to digest,” much like the Texas women that he is so fond of. And so Akiko Ueno tunes in to My American Wife! every week, trying desperately to cook and consume delicious dishes, like Coca Cola Roast and Beef Fudge, that she learns from watching the American wives.
Although Jane and Akiko are brilliant counterpoints—Jane’s first-person narrative lends the novel its funny and candid tone while Akiko’s eventual triumph is a poignant reminder that a frail body can house the fiercest of spirits—Jane encounters a host of other extraordinary characters as she scours our nation’s freezer sections and Wal-Marts in search of subjects for her programs. She learns to two-step from Alberto and Catalina Martinez, who emigrated to Texas so that their son could be born an American citizen.
She joins Vern and Grace Beaudroux at the annual pig festival in Askew, Louisiana, and meets their family of twelve—ten of whom are adopted Asian children. Miss Helen Dawes invites her to a rousing prayer service in Harmony, Mississippi, where she learns that chicken can be a dangerous delicacy. In Quarry, Indiana, the male members of Jane’s video crew are enchanted by an ethereal and radiantly beautiful teenager named Christina Bukowsky, whose legs were crushed by a container truck. While in Massachusetts, Lara and Dyann, a lesbian vegetarian couple living with their children—perhaps the unlikeliest candidates for My American Wife!—create the most honest installment of Jane’s program.
All of these characters are embedded in the terrain of America—and the text of the novel—like unique jewels. Each is different, yet none is less captivating than another. And as Jane, much to the chagrin of the Japanese production company, detonates stereotypes by incorporating these quirky, unforgettable characters into My American Wife!, a central theme of the novel begins to crystallize—that of authenticity.
Are “authentic” American wives really the “ample, robust, yet never tough or hard to digest” middle-class white Americans that Beef-Ex wants to offer up to the Japanese TV audience? Ruth Ozeki paints a world where wives are “meat made manifest,” where, according to the Beef-Ex hierarchy of meats, “pork is possible but beef is best,” and with this type of metaphorical play, she deftly yet relentlessly teases out our own preconceptions and misconceptions about culture, gender, and race.
With the roving, probing eye of a filmmaker, Ozeki brings into sharp focus a myriad of other issues that have defined this decade: spousal abuse, eating disorders, and safe sex, to name just a few. Jane’s affair with the enigmatic saxophonist Sloan provides a lens through which to explore the often ambiguous, confounding nature of modern-day relationships. When Jane realizes that she wants Sloan at the center of her life, rather than “orbiting its periphery like a spare moon,” even the stealthiest emotional navigating cannot prevent her from allowing fear of intimacy and a series of misunderstandings to railroad—if only temporarily—their relationship.
Of course, no discussion of My Year of Meats would be complete without a word about food safety and the use of hormones in the meat industry. We learn that ninety-five percent of American cattle are routinely fed “growth-enhancing” drugs, and that trace residues of these drugs, as well as herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides, end up in the beef that we eat. This information is as integral to the plot as it is to Jane’s well-being, and here the story unfolds like an industrial thriller as these larger social issues start to dovetail and resonate with the most intimate parts of the women’s lives.
Jane discovers that in her mother’s womb she was exposed to DES, a hormone mistakenly prescribed to prevent miscarriages, and now she suffers reproductive disorders as a result. She subsequently realizes that she is pregnant, and ironically, as her fetus grows, she craves more beef.
Determined to learn more, Jane visits Dunn & Son, Custom Cattle Feeders, where she meets the family: Bunny, a former stripper and rodeo queen; her elderly husband, John, who proposed to Bunny during a lap dance; Gale, his “pale, flaccid” son from a previous marriage; and John and Bunny’s five-year-old daughter, Rose.
The tour that Jane takes of a neighboring slaughterhouse, and the subsequent revelation that Rose—so poisoned by growth hormones that at five years old her body has matured into that of a grown woman—represent the darkest regions of the novel. Perhaps the secret poisoning of our food supply is one of the true evils of the world, but even more frightening is this: How can citizens of America, and of the world, address evils of which they may not be aware?
In My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki does not presume to have the answer to this question, nor does she attempt to shepherd readers through the rough terrain of love and happiness at the cusp of the millennium. Rather, she invites them to revel in the fumbling, imperfect—yet endearing—qualities of human nature.
And as for coping with the evils lurking not only within the human heart, but also beneath the cellophane packing of beef in the freezer section, one might best look to Jane Takagi-Little for guidance: “I don’t think I can change my future simply by writing a happy ending,” she says. “That’s too easy and not so interesting. I will certainly do my best to imagine one.” (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 12, 1956
• Where—New Haven, Connecticut, USA
• Education—Smith College; Hara University
• Awards—Kiriyama Prize; American Book Award
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York, and British Columbia
Ruth Ozeki is a Canadian-American novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. She worked in commercial television and media production for over a decade and made several independent films before turning to writing fiction.
She was born in New Haven, Connecticut of American father and a Japanese mother. She studied English and Asian Studies at Smith College and traveled extensively in Asia. She received a Japanese Ministry of Education Fellowship to do graduate work in classical Japanese literature at Nara University. During her years in Japan, she worked in Kyoto’s entertainment or “water” district as a bar hostess, studied flower arrangement as well as Noh drama and mask carving, founded a language school, and taught in the English Department at Kyoto Sangyo University.
Film and novels
Ozeki returned to New York in 1985 and began a film career as an art director, designing sets and props for low budget horror movies. She switched to television production, and after several years directing documentary-style programs for a Japanese company, she started making her own films. Body of Correspondence (1994) won the New Visions Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and was aired on PBS. Halving the Bones (1995), an award-winning autobiographical film, tells the story of Ozeki’s journey as she brings her grandmother’s remains home from Japan. It has been screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Museum of Modern Art, the Montreal World Film Festival, and the Margaret Mead Film Festival, among others. Ozeki’s films, now in educational distribution, are shown at universities, museums and arts venues around the world.
Ozeki’s two earlier novels, My Year of Meats (1998) and All Over Creation (2003), were both recognized as Notable Books by The New York Times.
Ozeki currently divides her time between New York City and British Columbia, where she writes, knits socks, and raises ducks with her husband, artist Oliver Kellhammer. She practices Zen Buddhism with Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and is the editor of the Everyday Zen website. She was ordained as a priest in June, 2010. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Ozeki skillfully tackles hard-pressing issues such as the use and effects of hormones in the beef industry and topics such as cultural differences, gender roles, and sexual exploitation. Her work is unique in presentation yet moving and entertaining. —Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Stanton, CA
Library Journal
[A] tale both heartwarming and horrific of two women, one American, one Japanese, curiously allied in a struggle against the determination of the meat industry to make the world safe for hormone-laced American beef.... Character gems and exquisite plotting make this a treasure to read, but the real sizzle is in the take on beef...every burger now deserves a long, hard look.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Each chapter of My Year of Meats opens with an excerpt from Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book. Consider the interplay between these quotes and the narrative’s trajectory. How does this interjection from the past enrich the novel? How does the Shonagon voice shape your relationship to the characters?
2. On the surface, Jane and Akiko appear to be opposites. Jane is physically strong while Akiko is frail. Jane is fiercely independent while Akiko is submissive to her husband. Are there any similarities between the two? How do they complement each other?
3. In the beginning of chapter 3, Jane makes this comment: “One requisite for a good documentarian: you must shamelessly take what is available.” What does this assertion tell you about Jane? At the end of Jane’s year of meats, do you think that she still believes it? If not, at what point in the novel do you think she changed her mind? Do you think that “shamelessly taking what is available” is a necessary part of being a documentarian or a journalist?
4. Our exposure to the media has reached a fever pitch. Increasingly, we are bombarded by instant information via television, print, radio, and the Internet. Is this a positive development? What is your own “screen” for judging information received in the media? Has your reading of My Year of Meats suggested any new possibilities for your own relationship with media sources?
5. How does this novel treat the question of cultural, ethnic, and gender stereotypes? Did it challenge any of your own perceptions or biases? Consider, too, how the media perpetuates and/or dismantles stereotypes.
6. Chapter 2 begins with this quote from The Pillow Book: “When I make myself imagine what it is like to be one of those women who live at home, faithfully serving their husbands, women who have not a single exciting prospect in life yet who believe they are happy, I am filled with scorn.” Akiko and Jane, as well as the women featured on My American Wife!, reflect the different roles women play both in Japan and within America. Of all of the women featured in the novel, with whom did you most identify? Were there any that you upheld as models for what women should aspire to be?
7. Think about some of the male characters in My Year of Meats. There is Suzuki, who has a “passion for Jack Daniel’s, Wal-Mart, and American hard-core pornography”; Oh, who is Suzuki’s drinking companion; and Joichi Ueno, Akiko’s violent husband with a fondness for Texas strippers. Do these characters’ affinity for pornography reflect the way that they relate to women?
8. Early in the novel, Jane says, “All over the world, native species are migrating, if not disappearing, and in the next millennium the idea of an indigenous person or plant or culture will just seem quaint.” Do you believe that this is true? If so, do you perceive it as a step toward a more peaceful, accepting world, or as a step away from a diverse, well-textured world? Is it possible to maintain cultural diversity without prejudice?
9. Consider Jane and Sloan’s relationship. It seems that the same qualities that make Jane successful in her career—strength and control—become obstacles in developing an intimate relationship with Sloan. Have you encountered this problem in your own relationships? At any point did you find yourself impatient with Jane or Sloan? Were you surprised to see them together in the end? Do you think that the novel is optimistic about intimacy? Are you?
10. “Truth lies in layers, each one thin and barely opaque, like skin, resisting the tug to be told. As a documentarian I think about this a lot. In the edit, timing is everything. There is a time to peel back.” Consider the way the novel plays with the notions of “truth” and “authenticity.” What do these words mean to Jane? To Akiko? To John Ueno? To the Wives? To the author? What forms of denial of truth do the various characters practice, and how do they “peel back”? What does the novel imply about denial in our world today?
(Questions provided by the publisher.)
The Ambassador's Daughter
Pan Jenoff, 2013
Mira
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780778315094
Summary
Paris, 1919.
The world's leaders have gathered to rebuild from the ashes of the Great War. But for one woman, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons, for which many could pay dearly.
Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all.
Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job—and also a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie.
Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
• Education—B.A., George Washington University; M.A., Cambridge University; J.D., University of Pennsylvania
• Currently—lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Pam Jenoff was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England.
Upon receiving her master's in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position provided a unique opportunity to witness and participate in operations at the most senior levels of government, including helping the families of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims secure their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, observing recovery efforts at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing and attending ceremonies to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II at sites such as Bastogne and Corregidor.
Following her work at the Pentagon, Pam moved to the State Department. In 1996 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland. It was during this period that Pam developed her expertise in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust. Working on matters such as preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland, Pam developed close relations with the surviving Jewish community.
Pam left the Foreign Service in 1998 to attend law school and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked for several years as a labor and employment attorney both at a firm and in-house in Philadelphia and now teaches law school at Rutgers.
Pam is the author of The Kommandant's Girl, which was an international bestseller and nominated for a Quill award, as well as The Diplomat's Wife, The Ambassador's Daughter, Almost Home, A Hidden Affair and The Things We Cherished.
She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three children. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
A tale of surprise betrayals, unquenchable desire, and a necessary awakening, Jenoff’s thorough and elaborate descriptions of character and setting makes for a satisfying period romance
Publishers Weekly
Discussion Questions
1. As the story opened, Margot appeared to be an independent and confident young woman. How do you think her character changed throughout the story, and what caused those changes? What do you feel was her greatest strength and weakness?
2. How do you think the loss of her mother affected Margot? How did this change throughout the book, particularly when she learned the truth?
3. Georg and Margot developed feelings for one another after mere days. What did you see in their time together that attracted them so powerfully? Do you believe it is possible to fall in love so quickly and for such a relationship to last?
4. How was it possible for Margot to keep secrets from those she professed to love most? How did it affect her relationships with her father, with Georg? Do you think that Margot’s choices were justified by her intentions?
5. Margot and Krysia became such close friends despite significant differences in age and circumstances. What do you think it was that drew them together, and what did each of them provide for the other? Have you ever found yourself in such a close but unlikely friendship?
6. Margot was a very young woman dealing with situations that most of us today would find completely over whelming at age twenty. What do you think it was that Margot really wanted out of life?
7. What did you think about Margot’s relationship with Stefan? Could you sympathize with her, being torn by an old promise to a man she didn’t know anymore and her love for a man that offered her a promising future? What would you have done in her shoes?
8. Margot experienced anti-German sentiment from those around her who saw her as the enemy. Do you think this was a fair judgment, given the political climate of the time? Do you think this type of mentality still exists today?
9. The post-WWI era is less familiar to some readers than WWII and other historical time periods. What did you like about a novel set during this time? Did you identify with any symbolic items, people or places throughout the book? What did they represent to you?
10. Do you agree that Margot’s relationship with her father improved over the course of the novel? How so, or how not?
11. What do you think happens six months after the end of the book? Six years?
12. The Ambassador’s Daughter is the prequel to two of Pam Jenoff’s other novels, The Kommandant’s Girl and The Diplomat’s Wife. If you have read those, how did you feel this book compared? Did knowing what happens twenty years down the line color your reading of this book?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)
China Dolls
Lisa See, 2014
Random House
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780812992892
Summary
It’s 1938 in San Francisco: a world’s fair is preparing to open on Treasure Island, a war is brewing overseas, and the city is alive with possibilities.
Grace, Helen, and Ruby, three young women from very different backgrounds, meet by chance at the exclusive and glamorous Forbidden City nightclub. Grace Lee, an American-born Chinese girl, has fled the Midwest with nothing but heartache, talent, and a pair of dancing shoes. Helen Fong lives with her extended family in Chinatown, where her traditional parents insist that she guard her reputation like a piece of jade. The stunning Ruby Tom challenges the boundaries of convention at every turn with her defiant attitude and no-holds-barred ambition.
The girls become fast friends, relying on one another through unexpected challenges and shifting fortunes. When their dark secrets are exposed and the invisible thread of fate binds them even tighter, they find the strength and resilience to reach for their dreams.
But after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, paranoia and suspicion threaten to destroy their lives, and a shocking act of betrayal changes everything. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—February 18, 1955
• Where—Paris, France
• Education—B.A., Loyola Marymount University
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her Chinese-American family (See has one Chinese great-grandparent) has had a great impact on her life and work. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995) and the novels Flower Net (1997), The Interior (1999), Dragon Bones (2003), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007), Shanghai Girls (2009), which made it to the 2010 New York Times bestseller list, and China Dolls (2014).
Flower Net, The Interior, and Dragon Bones make up the Red Princess mystery series. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love focus on the lives of Chinese women in the 19th and 17th centuries respectively. Shanghai Girls chronicles the lives of two sisters who come to Los Angeles in arranged marriages and face, among other things, the pressures put on Chinese-Americans during the anti-Communist mania of the 1950s. See published a sequel titled Dreams of Joy.
Writing under the pen name Monica Highland, See, her mother Carolyn See, and John Espey, published three novels: Lotus Land (1983), 110 Shanghai Road (1986), and Greetings from Southern California (1988).
Biography
Lisa See was born in Paris but has spent many years in Los Angeles, especially Los Angeles Chinatown. Her mother, Carolyn See, is also a writer and novelist. Her autobiography provides insight into her daughter's life. Lisa See graduated with a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University in 1979.
See was West Coast correspondent for Publishers Weekly (1983–1996); has written articles for Vogue, Self, and More; has written the libretto for the opera based on On Gold Mountain, and has helped develop the Family Discovery Gallery for the Autry Museum, which depicts 1930s Los Angeles from the perspective of her father as a seven-year-old boy. Her exhibition On Gold Mountain: A Chinese American Experience was featured in the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, and the Smithsonian. See is also a public speaker.
She has written for and led in many cultural events emphasizing the importance of Los Angeles and Chinatown. Among her awards and recognitions are the Organization of Chinese Americans Women's 2001 award as National Woman of the Year and the 2003 History Makers Award presented by the Chinese American Museum. See has served as a Los Angeles City Commissioner. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 5/21/2014.)
Book Reviews
(Starred review.) [T]hree young women, Grace, Helen, and Ruby, meet and form an unlikely but strong bond in San Francisco in 1938.... The story alternates between their viewpoints, with each woman’s voice strong and dynamic, developing a multilayered richness as it progresses. The depth of See’s characters and her winning prose makes this book a wonderful journey through love and loss.
Publishers Weekly
In 1938, three friends are competing for a single job as showgirl on San Francisco's Chop Suey Circuit, the glittery underworld of all-Asian revues.... With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans are being interned, among them Ruby. Did one of her friends betray her?
Library Journal
The lives of three young Chinese-American women...intersect in valuable and often violent ways in... pre-WWII San Francisco.... In her impeccably researched and distinctive historical saga of desire and ambition, betrayal and revenge set amid the glitz and debauchery of burlesque entertainment..., See again lavishly explores the thorny intricacies of female friendships.
Booklist
The episodic and creaky plot staggers under the weight of See's considerable research into the careers and lifestyles of the actual stars of the all-Asian revue craze of the 1930s and '40s. Still, a welcome spotlight on an overlooked segment of showbiz history.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion. Questions
1. The novel opens with the below quotation:
Only three things cannot be long hidden:
the sun
the moon
and the truth.
What do you think this quotation means in the context of China Dolls? Lisa’s novel is filled with secrets—some hidden and not revealed until late in the novel. What were the most important ones? Why are they hidden? Why are they secrets? Do you agree with how and when they were revealed?
2. “China doll” or “China dolls” are phrases used often in the novel. What are the most important meanings behind this phrase? Which are positive? Which are negative?
3. It seems as if there’s a fine line between the blessings of family and the burdens of family. How is that line crossed in each girl’s family? What do you think Lisa is specifically saying about mothers and fathers and their relationships with their children in China Dolls?
4. Grace’s father brutally abuses her when she is a young girl. Although Lisa never excuses his behavior, how does she gradually reveal to the reader some of the factors that have made him the man he is? Do you ever accept him for who he is?
5. What aspects of Helen’s life make her situation fundamentally different from that of the other girls? Helen’s life in the compound with her family has many obvious negative aspects. Are there positive aspects to the compound as well?
6. How does Grace’s ambition differ from that of Ruby’s?
7. Is it fair to be critical of the way Joe and Ruby try to hide their early relationship from Grace? Does this betrayal ultimately help Grace in some respects?
8. What important elements does Eddie bring to the novel? How would you characterize Helen’s relationship with him?
9. How did you react to the way Ruby seeks to hide her Japanese ancestry as WWII begins? How do you feel about her relationship with her parents? Do you think Ruby’s parents are Japanese spies? Can you tell one way or another? Does it matter to you whether they are verifiably innocent or guilty?
10. What personal effect does World War II have on each of the characters?
11. While there are big betrayals in the novel, there are also moments of great resiliency and hope as the girls help each other and others. In what ways do Grace, Helen, and Ruby support each other?
12. Grace, Helen, and Ruby face many varieties of prejudice, as well as sexism. How do their reactions differ, and how are they similar?
13. Helen’s narratives are filled with traditional Chinese sayings. Which are the most important in the novel and why?
14. Perhaps more than in any of her other novels, Lisa has written in great detail about clothes and fashion. Why do you think she did that and what was she trying to say?
15. The idea of losing face is a recurring concern in China Dolls, but the main characters tend to differ in how they understand it. For example, Grace feels that she can’t comfort Ruby in her darkest hour, because she doesn’t want her friend to lose face in her presence. What are some other instances where you see their differing viewpoints, and what do those moments say about each character?
16. Do you think Grace’s relationship with Joe is significantly different when he returns at the end of the novel? If so, how? In what ways has Grace changed? In what ways has Joe changed? Or have either of them changed?
17. How is Helen’s betrayal of Ruby different from her betrayal of Grace? Which betrayal is worse? Why?
18. “The Darkness of Love” is the chapter title for Ruby’s account of the big confrontation scene at the end of China Dolls. What do you think this phrase means in relation to this chapter? What is its importance to the novel as a whole?
19. Would the final confrontation scene have been different if it had been entirely narrated by Grace? Or by Helen?
20. At the end of China Dolls, Tommy’s daughter Annie criticizes Grace’s career as one that promoted racial stereotypes. Is this criticism fair? Why or why not?
(Quesitons from the author's website.)