Dreams of the Red Phoenix by Virginia Pye was a book that I was fully expecting to love but instead, had rather a mixed reaction. The story of a recent widow and her teenage son trapped by the invading Japanese Army in northern China in 1937 was indeed a story of courage, idealism, and treachery. Unfortunately I wasn’t enamoured by the writing or the characters.

As the book opens, both mother, Shirley Carson and son, Charles are adjusting to losing missionary husband and father, Caleb, several weeks ago. Being a trained nurse, when Japan launches an attack, she opens the mission and tends to the wounded. But she is torn between helping the Chinese fight the invaders and her desire to leave this dangerous country and take herself and her son home to America. As the war grows more intense, both Shirley and Charles realize that their status as neutral Americans is not the protection that they thought.

I am sure there is a fantastic story to be told here and although inspired by the experiences of her grandparents who were missionaries in China, I don’t think the author’s writing was up to the task. I felt the book was poorly paced and lacked the ability to draw the reader in. I never was able to understand the motives behind Shirley’s actions, and I found the character of Charles rather unbelievable. Dreams of the Red Phoenix had all the ingredients that I look for so I was quite disappointed that it just didn’t work for me. ( )

I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of this period in history is limited at best. I know very little about the relationship between China and Japan other than it wasn’t friendly. This book is not lengthy at 288 pages yet it packs a lot of story between the covers.

World War II hasn’t begun yet in 1937 when this story begins but the start of the Japanese invasion of China is beginning. A young American woman, married to a preacher and living at an American Mission learns that her husband has died suddenly leaving her far from home with her son. She is bereft and unable to function while the world around her slowly starts to implode. Her son is growing into a young man and she barely notices. Circumstances force her out of her mourning stupor to face the facts of a possible war in her backyard.

What she learns about herself, her surroundings and the world as a whole will change her life forever and perhaps alter her in ways from which she can’t come back. I loved this character – she was a ball of confusion at the start but she grew into a strong woman through circumstance and a love for her adopted country.

Ms. Pye’s writing style is simple yet she really knows how to draw her reader into the story. She brings her characters alive from the protagonist to the smallest, seemingly insignificant character they all shine. I want to read this one again because I know I will find things I missed this first time around. ( )