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(Paperback - Reprint)
As an American appraiser of fine Chinese porcelain, Lia Frank holds fragile beauty in her hands, examines priceless treasure with a magnifying lens. But when Lia looks in the mirror, she sees the flaws in herself, a woman wary of love, cut off from the world around her.
Mones's second novel, after Lost in Translation, twins a conventional romance with an unconventional and intriguing art world mystery. Lia Frank, a specialist in Chinese porcelain for a Sotheby's-like art dealer called Hastings, flies to Beijing to appraise a cache of some 20 porcelain pots secretly offered for sale by a Chinese developer, only to find that there are close to 800 pots of unsurpassed beauty. Given the value of the collection some $190 million Hastings fears fraud, and it is Lia's job to ensure that the collection is authentic and contains no fakes. Early in her search, Lia comes upon a replica of a late 15th-century Ming masterpiece, which makes her question the provenance of the entire collection. Meanwhile, Lia develops an interest in one of her neighbors, a research physician, though her stay may be too short for a relationship to bloom. Perhaps because it is convenient to the novel, Mones has made Lia a mnemonist, who has memorized not only every pot she has ever examined, but also every catalogue and history. (Readers of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci will be familiar with feats of this sort.) This talent allows her to reconstruct significant events in the history of the collection. Though the mnemonic tricks are contrived, these passages are the novel's most arresting. Here the language is fresh (elsewhere it seems mechanical), and Mones slips easily into her characters' skins (elsewhere you feel her struggling). Still, she generates real suspense moving cinematically from character to character and place to place all the while deftly sketching the intricacies of Chinese porcelain and the world of imitators and smugglers that surround it. Major ad/promo. (Apr. 2) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
More Reviews and RecommendationsNicole Mones was awarded the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for her first novel, Lost in Translation, which was also named a New York Times Notable Book. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.
From the Hardcover edition.
As an American appraiser of fine Chinese porcelain, Lia Frank holds fragile beauty in her hands, examines priceless treasure with a magnifying lens. But when Lia looks in the mirror, she sees the flaws in herself, a woman wary of love, cut off from the world around her. Still, when she is sent to Beijing to authenticate a collection of rare pieces, Lia will find herself changing in surprising ways…coming alive in the shadow of an astounding mystery.
As Lia evaluates each fragile pot, she must answer questions that will reverberate through dozens of lives: Where did these works of art come from? Are they truly authentic? Or are they impossibly beautiful forgeries--part of the perilous underworld of Chinese art? As Lia examines her treasure, a breathtaking mystery unravels around her. And with political intrigue intruding on her world of provenance and beauty, Lia is drawn into another, more personal drama--a love affair that could alter the course of her life.
Mones's second novel, after Lost in Translation, twins a conventional romance with an unconventional and intriguing art world mystery. Lia Frank, a specialist in Chinese porcelain for a Sotheby's-like art dealer called Hastings, flies to Beijing to appraise a cache of some 20 porcelain pots secretly offered for sale by a Chinese developer, only to find that there are close to 800 pots of unsurpassed beauty. Given the value of the collection some $190 million Hastings fears fraud, and it is Lia's job to ensure that the collection is authentic and contains no fakes. Early in her search, Lia comes upon a replica of a late 15th-century Ming masterpiece, which makes her question the provenance of the entire collection. Meanwhile, Lia develops an interest in one of her neighbors, a research physician, though her stay may be too short for a relationship to bloom. Perhaps because it is convenient to the novel, Mones has made Lia a mnemonist, who has memorized not only every pot she has ever examined, but also every catalogue and history. (Readers of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci will be familiar with feats of this sort.) This talent allows her to reconstruct significant events in the history of the collection. Though the mnemonic tricks are contrived, these passages are the novel's most arresting. Here the language is fresh (elsewhere it seems mechanical), and Mones slips easily into her characters' skins (elsewhere you feel her struggling). Still, she generates real suspense moving cinematically from character to character and place to place all the while deftly sketching the intricacies of Chinese porcelain and the world of imitators and smugglers that surround it. Major ad/promo. (Apr. 2) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
This second novel by Mones (Lost in Translation) revolves too exclusively around Chinese porcelain. Fortunes are made and lives are lost as a result of buying, selling, and transporting this ancient and fragile art. A renowned expert in porcelain, Lia has been sent to assess the value of a newly discovered treasure from the Forbidden City in Beijing. Her job is to determine its authenticity and see that it is delivered safely to Hong Kong. The only character in this novel not involved with pots is the handsome American researcher, Michael. Like Lia, he is a recluse, but they find each other and true love before the novel's conclusion. Unfortunately, Mones reveals more about porcelain pots than human nature; any tension revolves around the dangers of the black market venture. Lia and her boss stateside give little thought to the dangers faced by the middlemen, nor do they care about the legality or ethics of their enterprise. Hints at possibly rich themes are scattered throughout this tedious novel, but they are never developed. For large public libraries only. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/01.] Rebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll., IA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Mones (Lost in Translation, 1998) returns to China in a beguiling if overbusy tale of an American who finds love amid the complexities and intrigues of the foreign art world. Thirtysomething Lia Frank works for a prestigious New York dealer in Chinese porcelains. A "mental librarian," she has created a unique memorization system by imagining the thousands of small examination rooms that candidates for imperial China's civil service once sat in, and mentally filing in each room a portion of her vast knowledge. She is also deaf and unmarried, sent now to China to appraise a superlative collection of antique pottery-literally hundreds of vessels-that has come on the market. Further, she's on her own, since her fellow expert fell ill en route and had to be left in Tokyo. Being alone makes her nervous, especially once she sees the size of the collection and uncovers a few beautifully rendered but undoubted fakes. As Lia begins appraising the porcelain, Gao Yideng, the wealthy entrepreneur who hopes to sell the collection in America (he claims to have the Chinese government's permission), plans how it will reach Hong Kong without being stopped at the border. He meets with ambitious intermediaries like Bai, who dreams of becoming rich from smuggling porcelain, and shares with him his plans for moving the pottery without being caught by customs. Lia, having researched its provenance and authenticity, concludes it was part of the great Imperial collection that was buried in farmland as the Japanese invaded in the 1930's. She also meets Michael Doyle, an American doctor in remission from cancer and currently assigned to a local hospital. They fall in love, but Michael is wary of commitment, and Liamust ensure that the porcelain makes it safely to Hong Kong. Intelligent and consistently interesting, with an engagingly original cast, subject, and themes-but the story itself often lags.
1. Lia chooses to wear hearing aids instead of getting more discreet implants. What does this say about her personality and her interaction with the outside world? Is there something she is seeking to escape?
2. How did growing up with hearing aids shape Lia into the person she has become? Has it had an effect on her success as an appraiser?
3. Unlike most ah chans, Bai does not smuggle porcelain purely for the money or the element of risk. What does Bai hope to achieve in his craft? What sort of fulfillment could it offer?
4. Why is Lia so interested in finding the Master of the Ruffled Feather? Is she disappointed or delighted with what she finds?
5. Would you say that Gao Yideng is more of a tycoon or a connoisseur? And what about Jack? Why do you think this?
6. When Lia’s partner is unable to accompany her in Beijing, she is afraid that she will be unable to do the job on her own. Why is this fear so prominent? Is she able to overcome it?
7. In China, it is common for experts to also make pots themselves. However, Lia only likes to look at and touch them. Why do you think that is?
8. What did the plane crash make Lia realize about her knowledge of China’s history and her place as an American citizen on foreign soil? Do you think that it has a lasting impact on her?
9. Lia is only able to catch a fleeting glimpse of something beautiful about herself before she goes back to focusing on her imperfections, inside and out. Do you think that her relationship with Michael changed that? What are some of the symbols of that change?
10. Why is Lia so interested in obtaining the Chenghua chicken cup even though sheknows it is a fake? What does it represent to her?
11. Do you think that Bai learns a lasting lesson from the fate of Hu and Sun? Does it affect his outlook on his family and his own future? What do you think happens to him after the book?
12. Lia has mastered the art of memory, while Michael seeks to master the science of forgetting. What does this say about them as individuals and as a couple? Do you see them reversing roles by the end of the book?
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