All this in the middle of her thriller which is also about greed, the desperation of those on the bottom of the food chain, abuse of the disadvantaged, corruption, and love. The tennessean “Sophisticated. See paints a fascinating portrait of a complex and enigmatic society, peasant and aristocrat alike, in which nothing is ever quite as it appears, and of the people, who are bound by its subtle strictures.
San diego union-tribune while david stark is asked to open a law office in beijing, receives an urgent message from an old friend imploring her to investigate the suspicious death of her daughter, detective Liu Hulan, his lover, who worked for a toy company about to be sold to David’s new client, Tartan Enterprises.
Once there, hulan unearths more questions, rather than finding answers to the girl’s death, all of which point to possible crimes committed by David’s client. See’s picture of contemporary China’s relationship with the United States is aptly played out through her characters.
Flower Net: A Red Princess Mystery The Red Princess Mysteries
A graceful rendering of two different and complex cultures, within a highly intricate plot. That rare thriller that enlightens as well as it entertains. San diego union-tribunea finalist for the edgar award for Best First MysteryA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK. Ambassador’s son is found dead–his body entombed in a frozen lake.
A vivid portrait of a vast Communist nation in the painful throes of a sea change. People“Fascinating. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U. S. Lisa see begins to do for beijing what sir arthur conan Doyle did for turn-of-the-century London or Dashiell Hammett did for 1920s San Francisco: She discerns the hidden city lurking beneath the public facade.
Dragon Bones: A Red Princess Mystery The Red Princess Mysteries
. And haunting hulan’s investigation is the possible theft of ancient dragon bones that might alter the history of civilization itself. See’s china is as vivid as Upton Sinclair’s Chicago. The new york Times Book Review. The case starts at a rally for a controversial cult that ends suddenly in bloodshed, and leads to the apparent murder of an American archaeologist, which officials want to keep quiet.
. Liu hulan is the inspector in china’s Ministry of Public Security whose tough style rousts wrongdoers and rubs her superiors the wrong way. In the end, she solves a mystery as big, unruly, and complex as China itself.
On Gold Mountain
In 1867, lisa see's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. With these stories and her own years of research, and much more, entrepreneurial genius, romance, a history that encompasses racism, secret marriages, Lisa See chronicles the one-hundred-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
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China Dolls: A Novel
Praise for china Dolls “Superb. New york times bestseller • named one of the best books of the year by the washington postlook for special features inside. This emotional, informative and brilliant page-turner resonates with resilience and humanity. The washington post “this is one of those stories I’ve always wanted to tell, but Lisa See beat me to it, and she did it better than I ever could.
Bravo! here’s a roaring standing ovation for this heartwarming journey into the glittering golden age of Chinese nightclubs. Jamie ford, author of hotel on the corner of bitter and Sweet “A fascinating portrait of life as a Chinese-American woman in the 1930s and ’40s. The new york times book review “a sweeping, bad fortune, turbulent tale of passion, good fortune, friendship, perfidy and the hope of reconciliation.
Los angeles times “lisa see masterfully creates unforgettable characters that linger in your memory long after you close the pages. Bookreporter “Stellar. The stunning ruby tom challenges the boundaries of convention at every turn with her defiant attitude and no-holds-barred ambition.
Shanghai Girls: A Novel
Booklist“A rich work . Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree. In los angeles they begin a fresh chapter, brave communist witch hunts, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.
. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, May, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, are having the time of their lives. Explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.
Usa todayin 1937, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. At its heart, dreams, shanghai girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries.
They love each other, but each knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most.
Peony in Love: A Novel
In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret. For young peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. Random House Trade. Random House Trade. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love.
Vintage Books. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own. Peony’s mother is against her daughter’s attending the production: “Unmarried girls should not be seen in public. But peony’s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen.
Ultimately, lisa see’s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard. Steeped in traditions and ritual, with its protocols, and stages of existence, misdeeds are punished, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, pathways, ancestors offer guidance, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, and hungry ghosts wander the earth.
Dreams of Joy: A Novel Shanghai Girls
The washington Post Vintage Books. 1 new york times bestseller • “astonishing. Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z. G. Devastated by joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost.
Random House Trade. In dreams of joy, there are no clear heroes or villains, just people who often take wrong turns to their own detriment but for the good of the story, leading to greater strength of character and more durable relationships. San francisco chronicle “A heartwarming story of heroic love between a mother and daughter.
The Island of Sea Women: A Novel
This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic lisa see story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.
Random House Trade. A new novel from lisa see, the new york times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. Mi-ja and young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds.
Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. The island of sea women: a Novel Hardcover - March 5, 2019. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart. In nineteenth-century china, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu “women’s writing”.
As the years pass, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, through famine and rebellion, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. Random House Trade. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.
Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames, ” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. Snow flower and the secret fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. Random House Trade. List of questions for discussion.
Paper Wife: A Novel
Her fragile marriage is tested further when she discovers that Siew will likely be forced into prostitution. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling’s parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. From the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus comes a heart-wrenching story about finding strength in a new world.
Southern China, 1923. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. Random House Trade. Can mei ling find a way to make a real family—even if it’s built on a paper foundation? Vintage Books. Random House Trade. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband’s first wife—a paper wife.
On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she’s met with a surprise.