Nicole MonesReseñas

330

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.

Beautifully written. Atmospheric. Interesting.
But bailed at 67%. Just a bit too "sensual" for me. Didn't pass the "recommend" to mom test. The reference to the female lead masturbating finally put me over the edge. Moving on.

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.

Awful. Trite, predictable and dull.

from Dan Christmas 2016 - see inscription inside front cover

2.5**

Lia Frank is an appraiser / art historian, specializing in fine Chinese porcelain. She is sent to Beijing to authenticate a collection of rare pieces and finds herself in the midst of a multi-national effort to remove priceless artifacts from China.

This is the third book by Mones that I’ve read. Unfortunately, I liked it the least of the three.

I think it was that Mones was trying to do too much in one book. The art intrigue is story enough, with a smuggler willing to risk his life to get the collection out of China, a dealer in Hong Kong eagerly awaiting the shipment, and the buyer in America willing to spend all he has to possess these treasures, the pressure is heavy on Lia to authenticate, or be certain if she’s judging something to be a fake. But then the author added an unusual romance.

Michael is an ex-pat physician researcher studying lead levels in children due to Beijing’s pollution. He lives in the same complex where Lia has been given a room-apartment. It’s understandable that they’d be drawn to one another by their “otherness” but the romance just felt like an added extra that really didn’t contribute to the story or the development of the characters.

I’m not sure why Mones chose to have her central character be deaf, though I thought she wrote poetically about the silence Lia retreats to when she removes her hearing aids. And I could certainly see how Lia would use this silence, to “research” through her memory for the stories and evidence to help prove whether an item was real or an exquisite fake. I enjoyed the historical interludes as Lia searched her memory for evidence, and really loved the scene where she tracked down and visited the contemporary maker of extraordinarily fine reproductions. One mystery remains, however relating to the “chicken cup” … but I’ll let other readers find out on their own.

I certainly did like learning more about Chinese porcelains and found myself googling images of the kinds of pots Lia examines.½

Not a lot of surprises in the story, but the Chinese culture and history was interesting. Sent me on a search for authentic Chinese food in the Triangle.

I made the mistake of thinking this was the basis of the Bill Murray Scarlett Johansson movie because the main character had red hair. Clearly it is not. The scion of a racist American politician loses herself in Chinese culture working as a translator. She is employed by an American archaeologist looking to recover Peking man which he believes was hidden in the wilds of Mongolia by the Jesuit priest de Chardin. Two Chinese ethnologist join the expedition, one of whom is seeking the fate of his wife who disappeared during the chaos. All the while the party is trailed by the PLA. The translator engages in multiple love affairs always overshadowed by her controlling father. The glimpse into Chinese culture as it opened to the west was enjoyable. Unbelievable plot twists left me going, “Nah.” Knowing the finances of academics, the thought that a failed archaeologist, whose funding has been denied, would rush off to China on a wild goose chase funded by maxing out his credit cards all in an effort to impress his son was too unbelievable. If you can ignore a few flaws Lost in Translation is an enjoyable ride.½

In this novel, the main character is a young widow and food writer who finds herself in China for both food-writing work and for personal reasons.

The basic plot was somewhat predictable, but I really enjoyed the descriptions of authentic Chinese cuisine and its intertwinings with the culture there.

The writing is a little wooden in a chick lit sort of way. The characters never felt terribly real to me. However, the food descriptions are lovely - it made me want to eat my way through China.

The writing is a little wooden in a chick lit sort of way. The characters never felt terribly real to me. However, the food descriptions are lovely - it made me want to eat my way through China.

I really like this author. All of her books are set in modern day China with a female American woman who is an expert in a particular field, and that subject is woven throughout the book. In A Cup of Light the main character is an authority on ancient Chinese porcelain, so you learn something about that as well as a bit of related history as you read the book. In each of the Mones books the characters are extremely competent in their professional lives while being troubled by insecurity personally. Lia's concern is "What is real?", both in the antiquities she studies as well as in her relationships.

I'd like to give this 4 stars but due to the mature themes that may offend some and a couple of unfortunately explicit scenes, I'll stick with 3. Having said that, I do like this author for a lot of reasons. I agree with this quote from the description of the novel:

The key to the novel's success is Mones's in-depth knowledge of China's culture, history, and politics. The question of cultural identity is at the core of her tale, and she skillfully weaves various aspects of Chinese life--from ancestor worship to the Cultural Revolution--into the personal relationships of her characters. By novel's end, readers have discovered a great deal about archeology, China, and most especially about the unmapped territories of memory, desire, and identity.

Nicole Mones was a participant in a very interesting panel discussion I attended at L.A. Times Festival of books. I'm impressed with how articulate, intelligent, and warm she is. I hope these traits come across in her books--I'm really looking forward to reading what she has to say.

5/2 I finished this book today and I wasn't disappointed. I really liked it! I'm going to get another book by her immediately. Thanks for the recommendation, Teri!

Two main characters whose stories intersect:
Maggie, widowed around a year ago, has just been informed that her husband may have fathered a baby during a work trip to China
Sam who is the latest in a long line of traditional Chinese chefs

When Maggie's boss offers her the chance to write a story about Sam, she's quick to jump on the opportunity as she will already be in China investigating the paternity claim.
She's been a food writer for years but has never been interested in Chinese food before.
What she finds when she meets Sam is a fascinating story and a new appreciation for authentic Chinese food.

This is a wonderful story of a young black musician Thomas Greene, who, in 1936, leaves the segregated USA to work in as a band leader in Shanghai. The jazz scene in Shanghai in vibrant and open and accepting to blacks. However, Thomas is unaware that war is brewing between Japan and China as well as in Europe. Soon after finding success and respect in his new home the realities of war make themselves known.

Mones has included many real historical people in her story, including musicians, politicians, key military figures and even victims of crime. She has done an extraordinary amount of research including the discovery of a long "lost" article about a Jewish Resettlement Plan that was to create a community of 100, 000 Jews on the China-Burmese border - it never came to fruition, but how fascinating!

The book also gives us insight into the Green Gang who had a strong presence in the city, the Shanghai nightlife and the Concession system of a city divided into Foreign communities- Concessions- where each country was allowed to enact their own "laws". Thomas learns which parts of the city are safe and open to him and which are dangerous - the American Concession still had racial laws! Later we see how the Japanese siege of the city impacted the lives of the differing citizens, and some of what we learn is surprising.

Communism was a new movement in China and there is a struggle between the Nationalists and the Communists as well the invading Japanese. Thomas is aware of this but we are given additional insight through the eyes of his connected friend Lin Ming and Thomas' forbidden lover. There is also another storyline involving the Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler, many of them musicians, and how Ho Feng-Shan, the Chinese Consul in Vienna saved thousands of them by writing fake visas.

Throughout the novel we are engrossed in the story of Thomas, his love of music, his struggle to stay in Shanghai, continue playing his music, keep his friends safe, keep himself safe, and finally to make difficult choices. Lovers of music will relish the descriptions of the music, the rich music scene in Shanghai and Thomas' musical growth. We also read about the food, the clothing, housing, gambling, opium, concubines, and how Thomas deals with servants, shopping and more. We learn how the Japanese "introduced" their new drug - heroin.

There are so many characters to care about in this novel, and we care about many of them. It is not a long book, but it is packed with a fascinating, moving story and an important history lesson - win-win.

A very interesting introduction to Chinese culinary traditions is interwoven in a rather predictable romance. I didn't feel that the book really delved into ex-pat life or other Chinese cultural traditions in any very deep way but other reviewers did appreciate the intercultural aspects so maybe I missed something. I enjoyed the book but if there is a book category called "Educational Romance" The Last Chinese Chef would fit the genre perfectly.

Not a lot of surprises in the story, but the Chinese culture and history was interesting. Sent me on a search for authentic Chinese food in the Triangle.

Lovely and romantic and full of descriptions of delicious food. Thanks to Brenna for recommending it.

(I have no notes on this book ... but I've since read another book by this author, and really like her work)

Excellent romance set in modern-day China that deals with many of the expat issues I am familiar with having lived in Asia. Fun details about Chinese cooking. Light but substantive. A bit predictable, but fast-paced and cinematic.

A slowly unfolding, low key story with parallel tales of lost things, including the Chinese wife of an archaeologist who is taken away by the NLA to a work camp for verboten information she included in an academic paper, the lost normalcy of an American woman's life after her father's outspoken views causes a murderous riot in her name, and the lost Peking man. I liked the story, and the setting, but the characters were unsympathetic and not fleshed out enough to appreciate them. Overall a good read though, if you are interested in Chinese customs and language.

Maggie McElroy, a widowed American food writer, is still trying to overcome her grief at her husband’s death in a hit-and-run accident, when she is stunned by a call from his law firm’s satellite office in Beijing. There is a paternity claim against her husband’s estate, and Maggie needs to go to Beijing to convince the child’s mother to agree to a DNA test. Immersing herself in work is what has helped her deal with her grief, so she is distressed when she tells her editor she will need to be gone for several weeks. But her editor has just learned of an interesting story in Beijing that Maggie could cover. Sam Liang, a Chinese-American, has returned to Beijing to open a new restaurant, paying homage to the grand tradition of famous chefs of the imperial era. In fact, he is descended from the Last Chinese Chef who worked for the Dowager Empress.

Maggie is a woman consumed by grief, surviving in a bubble of memories that has just been shattered. Did she really know her husband? Did he really love her? How could he have fathered this child, AND kept it a secret from her? Dealing with such a claim would be difficult and trying enough in America. But now she finds herself in a city where she does not understand the language, culture or customs, and must rely on strangers to help her. Her planned article on Sam Liang is the only area where she can feel somewhat normal as a journalist, researching her subject and crafting the written portrait. They are both surprised to find in one another an ally and friend, and they nurture one another with food, with understanding, with encouragement and with hope.

Mones deftly combines Sam’s story with Maggie’s, and with the tradition and history of Chinese cuisine, philosophy, culture and dining. The descriptions of the menus and dishes are nothing short of delicious – a sensory feast of tastes, sounds, smells, textures, and visual images. Just as much attention is paid to developing these characters; Mones reveals them a little at a time allowing the reader to get to know them as they deal with various disappointments and unexpected joys. There were a few times when Mones switched narrators that momentarily confused me, but it didn’t take long to understand where she was going with these sections, and then appreciate how they contributed to developing the characters and story. Take your time reading it – savor every page.

A woman, in the midst of her grief at losing her husband, learns that he may have had a child by another woman in China. Devastating much? This is a book about grief and its many faces, about healing, family, history and the way food can connect them all. Mostly, it is about Chinese cuisine, which is something most Americans are oblivious to. American Chinese food is a different creature from that of the food culture of China and it is time we learned better.

What a lovely story this was! An incredible look into the cuisine of China, how it represents the history, literature and just about everything else there. I very much enjoyed this, even though I never much connected with the main characters. Unusual for me, I tend to need to love the characters to enjoy the story. Don't get me wrong, the people in the story were not unpleasant, they were real with real issues, but there was something between us that kept me from being caught up in their trials and joys. I wanted to get back to the talk about food and cooking and customs and history.