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Following the death of her mother, Jing-Mei "June" Woo becomes the fourth member of The Joy Luck Club, a club that meets weekly to play mah jong. Formed by June's mother in 1949, the San Francisco Joy Luck Club allowed the immigrants to share their past experiences in China. The Woos, the Jongs, the Hsus, and the St. Clairs are as close as family, yet each mother and daughter remembers unique events that shaped their own lives. June expresses the complications of mother-daughter relationships, family expectations, and cultural traditions as she learns more about her mother's life in China and what she left behind.

Reviewed by Sarah H., Independence Regional

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A re-telling of the Chinese legend of a woman who cared for a man who, though he became a minor deity, was never worthy of her, this is a beautiful and sensitive story of women and their relationships with men and each other. Set in the present and the past, in San Francisco and in China, it examines in intimate detail family relationships - especially between mother and daughter, sister and sister. Members of the family, of course, are not necessarily related…. Like all of Tan's work: enchanting.

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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Olivia, a San Francisco Chinese girl, is thrilled - then hugely disappointed - when her half-sister Kwan comes from China to share her childhood, to tell her - in some of the most delightful broken English ever written - disturbing tales of a life gone by and the various fates of those who lived it. When they return to China years later, Kwan's surprising mission is revealed. Ghosts, she says, are evidence of the permanence of love. And this book, Tan's most magical yet, is filled with ghosts.

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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Becoming Madame Mao is a novel based on the life of the most powerful and reviled female figure in modern Chinese history, Jiang Ching, a.k.a. the "White-Boned Demon." The story chronicles her life from her abusive childhood to her modest successes in the theater to her failed marriages to her eventual rise to power as Chairman Mao Zedong's wife and political ally. At the height of her power, she established a national propaganda machine in the form of the Cultural Revolution and positioned herself for a desperate grab at control of the Communist Party following Mao's death. In this enlightening tale, Anchee Min, once recruited for Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio, somehow manages to paint a human face on a woman whose blind ambition and inability to separate drama from reality contributed to millions of deaths.

Reviewed by Peter J., Carmel Branch

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Lin Hong, a Chinese army doctor is trapped in a marriage arranged by his parents. While working in an army hospital in Muji City, he falls in love with a nurse. As an army officer he is not allowed to divorce without his wife’s consent until after 18 years of separation. Every year, Lin goes back to Goose Village his home to ask for a divorce without success. Year after year, 18 years pass, until finally he is free to marry the woman he loves. Was it worth the wait? Jin’s account of love, family and daily life in China is realistic, powerful and heart-rending.

Reviewed by Janet W., Morrison Regional

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A family is left destitute after their father, a Chinese provincial governor, passes away. Orchid, the oldest of two children, applies to be one of the young emperor’s concubines. Because of her background and beauty she is chosen as one of his seven wives and her family’s problems are over. After bearing the emperor his only son she must then learn the ruthless strategies of court life in order to keep her son and herself alive. Although the book is episodic in nature it has a nice flow and it is full of vibrant characters and many nice details about the dress and traditions that composed life in the China’s Forbidden City in the late 19th century.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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In 1613 three low-level emissaries set sail from Japan bound for Nueva Espana – Mexico. These men and their servants, led by an ambitious Franciscan priest who serves as guide and interpreter, were sent to attempt to open up trade with Spain and her colonies. The group travels to Mexico, from there to Spain, and then to Rome seeking an audience with the Pope. Once in Rome they learn that the authorities in Japan have outlawed Christianity and moved to isolate Japan from outside influences. Their journey was futile from the beginning. Based on a little-known episode in Japanese history, this novel is also a spiritual autobiography of the author’s search for meaning. The story offers a fascinating glimpse into a feudal world attempting to avoid inevitable change.

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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In this newest book by the author of Remains Of The Day the narrator, Kathy H., is telling about her life growing up at Hailsham, a British boarding school in the 1990s. Hailsham students (along with the reader) were protected from knowing what the future held for them, but hints are dropped, building the sense of mystery that permeates the first part of the book. At age 31 Kathy is telling us the story after meeting up with two of her old school friends with whom she had lost contact. The mysterious secrets that permeated their days at Hailsham are now out in the open. As the three friends move along the paths for which they were trained, they have a chance to renew their friendships, and reach a level of love and forgiveness, as well as an understanding and acceptance of their lives.

Reviewed by Susan H., Main Library

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Wei Hui’s breakout novel is as good a character study to have come along in years. Written in a stream of consciousness that compliments the surreal lines of the main characters, the book gives voice to the liberated youth of one of Asia’s most up and coming cities. Coco is a free thinking writer who falls in love with the hypersensitive, impotent artist Tian Tain. Their passionate yet tumultuous relationship proves overwhelming for Coco who seeks refuge in the arms of a German businessman with disastrous results. Hui’s style recalls Henry Miller, infusing her characters with honesty and compassion without sacrificing the refreshing lightheartedness that makes the book a joy to read.

Reviewed by Allison P., University City Regional

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A young Chinese woman with humble roots and dreams of success, Juanjuan is born into a poor farming family in a backwater hamlet. She is one of two graduates from her high school to be accepted to college, but the job she is assigned after graduation doesn’t satisfy her. Despite her friends' and family's belief that she should be happy with her "iron bowl," or steady paycheck and permanent job, she moves south to one of China’s new free market regions. Juanjuan's road is not easy and she endures financial and romantic hardship. Nonetheless, she perseveres, certain that there is a better life out there. Juanjuan’s pluck is inspiring, and the story provides a portrait of a changing China finding its footing in the global free market economy.

Reviewed by Meri H., University City Regional

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This series of stories covers a wide range of characters and situations with one common denominator: the devastating earthquake that hit Kobe in 1994. The stories contain Murakami’s signature mix of the mundane and the fantastic, with brilliant storylines and haunting prose to help the reader reach for profound truths. Though none of the main characters lost close friends or family in the disaster and none of the plotlines are directly involved with the quake, the tragedy looms large in each story. A thoughtful rendering of how disaster affects the consciousness of a culture.

Reviewed by Meri H., University City Regional

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