Serious, informative and graphic, this book expertly plumbs despair.
Two young lovers contend with the political unrest of 1930s Shanghai in this historical novel.
Blair draws readers into a world of political unrest, slashed dreams and persistent hope for peace in the war-torn city of Shanghai. Dually narrated by Shiying, the dapper, headstrong Chinese writer, and Peipei, a bright, sophisticated courtesan, Blair showcases the challenges the couple faces trying to build a life together in desperate circumstances. For Shiying, there’s nothing more important than pursuing his writing career, even if it means putting his life on the line. The upright Peipei, on the other hand, fears losing her love in the fight for Chinese freedom. She worries that the Japanese Imperial army will execute Shiying and that they will never start a family together. Shiying differs from his politically active coterie because he believes that mutual cooperation and understanding between the Chinese and Japanese could bring peace and because he insists that he’s an apolitical artist. He contends artists can exist beyond politics. Unfortunately, this sentiment proves futile; Japanese forces follow him, convinced he’s part of the opposition. The novel skillfully explores the duty of the artist during wartime. More potent even than the descriptions of Peipei and Shiying is the rendering of Shanghai itself. The narrative exudes an ominousness that saturates the city. The Japanese Sandman, a sinister, foreboding presence, haunts Peipei’s dreams throughout the novel as she tries to convince Shiying to take safety precautions against the Japanese authorities. Readers will clearly see through the foreshadowing to the loving couple’s future.
Serious, informative and graphic, this book expertly plumbs despair.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-1466914711
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.
A Seattle woman meets a Chicago businessman as she flies home from a visit to a friend, and her small act of kindness blossoms into more.
Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. When Maisy offers a ride to a rude businessman who sat next to her on the plane, she’s just operating on the kindness her grandmother instilled in her. That businessman, Chase Furst, turns out to be an incredibly wealthy banker; he’s flown into Seattle to make funeral arrangements for his mother, to whom he hasn’t spoken in years. Sparks fly in this gentle and predictable romance that leans heavily on long-distance and class-divide tropes. As with many of the author’s books, Christianity and the characters’ reliance on God’s will—as they wait and see what happens next—play a large part, as do traditional gender roles where women cook, clean, and only work in paying jobs until they have children at home to take care of. The author does offer a lighter touch when it comes to the painful ways alcoholism can destroy family relationships, with an understanding of the regret that can weigh on every family member.
Light on plot and heavy on bolstering traditional gender norms as the ultimate goal for both men and women.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798217091676
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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