A thought-provoking and intriguing, though unevenly written, novel of the expatriate life and one man’s discovery of what...
An American expatriate reevaluates his life in China.
In this contemporary novel, Moreau (Understanding China, 2015) draws on his own experience living and working in China as he tells the story of Adam Bertrand, an American executive in charge of a Chinese manufacturing operation. Adam’s management style is effective, but serves as a source of conflict with his boss, a by-the-books CEO unfamiliar with the culture, from the opening pages. Adam is also on his third marriage, this time to Li Qing, his former masseuse, also known as Lisa. When it becomes clear that Adam’s career in China has reached its end, he looks back at his life while figuring out the next steps, made more difficult by laws limiting the immigration of Chinese wives like Li Qing. Adam confronts his strengths and shortcomings, establishes a comfortable relationship with the children of his previous marriage, and plots a path forward that meets his physical and emotional needs. Moreau’s familiarity with the expatriate experience in China is evident throughout the book, with a vividly drawn setting, though the blanket statements about Chinese culture delivered in an authoritative voice (“As receiver-oriented communicators, the Chinese can be poor conversationalists if the feel no sense of personal obligation to the speaker” [139]) may raise eyebrows. The narrative is somewhat uneven, filled with professorial asides (“Humans think through a process called precognitive conclusion. Even in the current moment when all data is theoretically available, our brains process only a small fraction of the data presented to it for analysis” [147]) and organized into a timeline that leaves the reader wondering at some points whether action is taking place in Adam’s past or present. Adam is a flawed but ultimately likable protagonist whose emotional and intellectual growth over the course of the book serve as his redemption, and Moreau presents a unique vantage point for understanding the role Americans play in a multicultural world.
A thought-provoking and intriguing, though unevenly written, novel of the expatriate life and one man’s discovery of what matters most to him.Pub Date: May 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5307-9881-0
Page Count: 222
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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