Nicole Mones

rabck from Asian bookbox; a book in a book. I'd advise reading the excerpts by themselves in one swoop before or after the meat of the book. Widow Maggie finds that her husband who worked some of the time in China, has a paternity claim filed against his estate. She's a magazine food writer & her editor sends to her profile a new culinary star, Sam Liang, while she unties the knots in China about her husband's past. The interview/profile she gathers about Sam is quite good, as he explains and cooks all sorts of things in the true old Chinese way, along with new twists to make them bright and new.… (more)

An elaborate, yet low-key adventure about history, archaeology and finding a place to truly belong. Although the characters had a lot of potential, I never was able to connect with any of them - I had a hard time liking Alice. Her Daddy issues and borderline fetishism with Chinese culture wasn't endearing or understandable, it was annoying. Why Lin? What was special about him? Or her other, near-fiance? It's never quite clear. And why in the world are we, the reader, treated to a very late romantic interlude only for it to fall apart just pages later for a nonexistent argument?

I couldn't understand Spencer's motivation either - he was dedicated to finding Peking Man in order to return triumphantly to his son but after the initial devastation of realizing it was lost forever he suddenly decides he wants to stay and work on the Monkey God project? Hadn't I gone through chapter after chapter of Spencer lamenting the separation from his son on a physical AND emotional level?

Still, despite what I thought were some major inconsistencies with the characters, I really enjoyed the thought and history behind this novel. The settings were vivid and emotional, I felt transported to China in practically every chapter. Definitely a different read.… (more)