December 2, 2013
Li (The Vagrants) became one of the writers in the New Yorker’s prestigious “20 Under 40” list, largely on the strength of her widely anthologized short stories, but in her second novel we follow a group of friends who came of age in Tiananmen Square era Beijing; there’s the preternaturally close Boyang and Moran, the distrustful orphan Ruyu, thrust into their midst after a devoutly Catholic upbringing, and, at the center of their affections, the political dissident Shaoai. But their circle is ruptured when Shaoai is poisoned by one of their number. Shaoai lives—barely—for 21 more years, but her contemporaries flounder in the interim. Boyang has become a playboy and serial “sugar daddy,” the once-outgoing Moran is a divorcée and spiritual shut-in living in America, and Ruyu, also an emigrant to America, is housekeeper to an upscale family with an inflated idea of their benevolence. As word of Shaoai’s death spreads and Boyang urges the others to return to China, each reflects on where their past has left them… and who is the murderer among them. Li is excellent at getting us to distrust her characters, but the tension is stretched too thin to sustain a story that never quite comes alive as either political allegory or sprawling social novel.
June 15, 2014
Li (The Vagrants) bases her latest work on a real-life story, creating an engrossing novel that combines cultural change, the immigrant life, and a complex mystery. Within a time frame that moves from the 1990s to the present, the action moves back and forth between China and the United States as Moran, Ruyu, and Boyang contend with the poisoning of their friend Shaoai. Their tightly knit group is torn asunder after the accident--or was it suicide, or murder? Narrator Angela Li matches and enhances the beautiful writing as she deftly conveys a range of accents, gorgeous Chinese pronunciations, and the distinctions and emotions of the main and secondary characters. VERDICT An ideal choice for listeners who enjoy international settings, extremely clever mysteries, and superior writing. ["Li's effortless ability to move fluidly in time and place...gives this novel a shattering immediacy," read the review of the Random hc, LJ 1/14.] --Susan G. Baird, formerly with Oak Lawn P.L., IL
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