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Product Description
Review
“One of those hard-to-put down-until-four in-the-morning books . . . With each new novel, Lisa See gets better and better.”—Los Angeles Times
“Once again, See’s research feels impeccable, and she has created an authentic, visually arresting world.”—The Washington Post
“A stunningly researched epic about revolutionary-era China.”—Los Angeles
“See is a gifted historical novelist. She illuminates a turning point in Chinese history when people still remembered the inequities of the feudal caste system, and in some cases embodied them. . . . See is unflinching in her willingness to describe it all.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“See’s fans will be glad to read more about Pearl, May and Joy, and See’s recurring themes of unbreakable family bonds and strong-willed women.”—The Oregonian
Book Description
In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.
Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.
Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.
Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love.
Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.
Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.
Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Period in China's History,
By
This review is from: Dreams of Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)
Set in the late 1950s, "Dreams of Joy" is the story of young Joy Louie who leaves her comfortable home in Los Angeles' Chinatown for the People's Republic of China to find both her birth father and what she thinks will be a better way of life. Her association with a communist group at the University of Chicago has led her to believe that it isn't the evil portrayed by the United States Government.Since her birth father is a well-known artist in Shanghai, it is fairly easy for her to find him in spite of government restrictions. After his initial shock of discovering he even has a daughter, he seems happy to know her. She travels with him to the village of Green Dragon where she joins the commune and falls in love with a young peasant farmer. In 1958, Mao announced the "Great Leap Forward," an attempt to increase agricultural and industrial production. However, three years of floods and bad harvest due to poor farming methods, severely damaged levels of production. The famine that occurred reportedly resulted in 4.5 million fatalities. The author masterfully transports us to that village and shows us in startling detail the horrors that result from this famine. Her attention to detail is wonderful and, while the book isn't a page-turner in the sense of a thriller, I was spellbound by the history of a period in China that has always fascinated me. Although "Dreams of Joy" is the sequel to "Shanghai Girls," which I have never read, I found it stands alone quite well. Since I am always intrigued by the history of China, I will certainly go back and read the prequel, as well as Ms. See's earlier books. She is a skilful author with the ability to transfer the reader to the exotic country she writes about.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Story!,
By
This review is from: Dreams of Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)
On August 23, 1957, nineteen-year-old Joy, is a confused and upset Chinese girl. Everything she thought she knew about her birth has been a lie! The woman she thought was her mother was her aunt. Her aunt is actually her mother, and the man she loved as her father turns out not to have been her father at all and now he's dead. Her "biological" father is an artist from Shanghai whom both her mother and aunt have loved since before Joy was born. His name is Li Zhi-ge or Z.G. Li Zhi-ge used to paint Joy's mother and aunt when they were models back in Shanghai.At 2 o'clock in the morning, Joy decides to leave their Los Angeles, California home and go to China. She packs a bag, writes her mother a note and quietly slips out the door. She walks to the nearest pay phone and calls her boyfriend Joe and tells him to get up, get dressed and get on a plane to San Francisco to meet her - they were going to China! Joe was having no part of that and hung up on her. However, Joy is still going to China, determined as ever to find her "real" father: "...even if he lives in a country of 600 million." Joy is dazzled by Z.G. but is totally blinded by idealism and defiance and throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the Communist regime. Distraught by Joy's leaving and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. A beautiful story of a family challenged by tragedy and time, but ultimately united by the resilience of love. Lisa See has a remarkable ability for writing and I've read every book she has written and with each one she just keeps outdoing herself. This is one you won't want to miss.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (187 customer reviews) 261 of 267 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inside Look At Mao's China,
By Mary Lins - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dreams of Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
"Dreams of Joy" by Lisa See continues the story of sisters Pearl and May, and of Joy, the daughter they share. The story began in "Shanghai Girls" which I very recently read, so the story was fresh in my mind. Pearl and May were once rich and pampered young women who modeled for an artist who painted calendars and ads in 1930s China. The story of how the sisters came to America in the 1930s was riveting and I wasn't ready for their tale to end, so I was happy to learn that Lisa See was already at work on a sequel and "Dreams of Joy" is it.Told in alternating first-person narratives by Joy and Pearl, we first meet nineteen year old Joy, who recently discovered a huge secret about her past and decides to go to the People's Republic of China to find her birth father and to help Chairman Mao's Communist cause. Pearl is hot on her trail to China, returning to places once familiar now quite changed. The alternating points of view are an effective way to show how both idealistic, Joy, and cynical Pearl, adjust to their new environments. At first, Joys is quite enamored with the new Communist ideal of sharing and equality. Pearl, on the other hand, can easily see the cracks, fissures and hypocrisies in the new regime. As Mao's "Great Leap Forward" begins to bring famine and death, the novel includes descriptions of suffering as horrible as any zombie movie I've ever seen. These passages are shattering and difficult to read. But the novel is also full of fascinating bits of arcane information, such as that the Maoists thought that bras were oppressive and confiscated them. Also, that returning Chinese scientists had to sign a confession admitting that the Chinese moon was larger than the American moon. I expect this newest Lisa See novel will be quite popular. See has written several interesting and bestselling historical novels and certainly fans of "Shanghai Girls" will be avid to read this sequel. See does not disappoint. 93 of 102 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Behind the Bamboo Curtain,
By Word Lover - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dreams of Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Once again Lisa See takes readers to China, meticulously evoking a fascinating period of history. With an anthropologist's eye for details about food, dress, manners, art, architecture and even odors, this time she pulls back the bamboo curtain to reveal Red China. Who knew, for example, that Mao frowned on the too-Western convention of women wearing bras?Dreams of Joy focuses on a triangle between a young woman named Joy; her mother, Pearl, and her aunt, May, with Joy and Pearl narrating in first-person voices. Pearl and May are characters well-drawn in Shanghai Girls, a previous See novel which covers 1937 to 1957 and moves from the girls' glittery life in Shanghai to a lesser existence in the Chinatown of Los Angeles, where they escape after the Japanese invade their country. For readers of Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy offers closure. But if this is the first of See's books you're picking up, I doubt that you will captivated. While Pearl is a complex woman, Joy is vapid, and where See's past novels depict a China of grace alongside scenes of brutality, Communist China is rendered with all the dreariness it deserves. As a result, while Dreams of Joy may be historically accurate, it is relentlessly bleak. In addition, the plot is far-fetched. For reasons that are not convincing, Joy, a University of Chicago student, impulsively visits China to meet her biological father, an artist respected even in the new regime. From here on, a reader must suspend disbelief as events unfold built on coincidences described in prose that never reaches lift-off. Even with its flaws, however, Dreams of Love is a powerful story about the bonds of country and motherhood. Readers will especially enjoy flashbacks to Shanghai's glory days, where "banquets came with French friends sprinkled with fine white sugar." The occasional Chinese proverb is also a treat: "An inch of gold won't buy an inch of time." Time being precious, however, I can recommend this book only if you are a reader of See's previous work. 44 of 48 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dragon Mother,
By Julia A. Andrews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dreams of Joy: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
This is a powerfully written, multi-dimensional story about love. A mother's unbreakable love for a child. Patriotic love for one's country. The multitude of forms love can take in a family. The love of a man and woman.Lisa See re-introduces us to Pearl and May, sisters in her previous novel, [[ASIN:0812980530 Shanghai Girls: A Novel]. I was delighted to see their often heartbreaking story continue. ****************Spoilers*************** 19 year old Joy sets out to China, where the newly minted Mao/Communist philosophy is just taking hold. During her one year at college, Joy naively becomes a vocal defender of Mao's "New China", joining a group that puts her family in the cross hairs of the FBI and INS. This leads to personal tragedy at home in Los Angeles' Chinatown. Long hidden secrets are revealed leaving Joy feeling betrayed and furious with Pearl, the sister who raised and loved her as her own daughter, and May, her birth mother, who pretended to be Joy's aunt. Pearl, disregarding her own safety, tracks Joy to Shanghai. After all, Pearl was born in the year of the Dragon, and she will not rest until her daughter is back in the US. This is no easy feat. The ever-changing Communist government keeps a close eye on people's movements and motives. Joy digs in her heels, becomes a propaganda spouting communal peasant in a remote Chinese countryside village much to her recently discovered biological father's and Pearl's dismay. Joy cannot 'see the forest for the trees'. Joy's Dragon Mother will go to the ends of the earth to ensure her safekeeping even after Joy impetuously marries an illiterate, spiteful village boy. The obstacles are enormous, the people untrustworthy, and the daily life vile. Mao and his minions push his people to their limits, leaving them starving to death in the streets of Shanghai and in the barren fields of the countryside. Ms. See successfully contrasts Pearl's realism with Joy's idealism all the while making the reader identify with both women. The storyline is strong with characters that are completely 3D. The pacing was perfection. I was engaged from the first to last page. Easily a stand alone novel, I relished it even more after reading "Shanghai Girls". Lisa See's research into her subjects' lives, cultural and religious beliefs combined with her impeccable knowledge of Chinese history make this a treat to savor. I also highly recommend Ms. See's other fiction and non-fiction for those interested in Chinese culture and customs. My personal favorites are: [[ASIN:0812980352 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel]];Peony in Love: A Novel; Shanghai Girls: A Novel and On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family. Enjoy the read! |
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