The Jade Lily is a sweeping story of friendship, loyalty, love and identity from the popular author of The Midsummer Garden.

When Jade discovers the truth about her biological parents, her quest for self-discovery leads her to Vietnam looking for answers, but she may find love instead.

To journey into the pages of this book is to journey into the colourful world of Chinese and Chinese-American culture, into slivers of history, into gender politics, into myth and, perhaps, even into ourselves. In the private struggles and triumphs of Pearl S. Bucks and Amy Tans women characters, in their quest to re-frame and re-define themselves and their lives, echo the universal experience of women in time and space: the stories of love and loss, the yearnings and heartaches, the joys and sorrows, the laughter and the tears and, above all, their quiet strength and resilience in the face of great odds and injustices that, more often than not, have marked the female experience through generations. The book will, no doubt, strike a chord in the hearts of the readers and offer a fascinating insight into the heart of a womans world and, what it is to be a woman. Pearl S. Buck and Amy Tan, the two authors revisited in this book, may both be described as writers who have, in their own ways, written about the lives of women. Through their work, they challenged patriarchal assumptions about women, by attempting to fashion a distinctive feminine voice that allows for the articulation of womens experiences in their own voices, and /or through the female perspective. This book takes a re-look at the women characters in select novels of these two writers, examining and analysing their experiences and subjectivities as they journey in quest of the self. Special attention is drawn to the role of stories/storytelling as a potent means of female expression and of bridging multifarious human divides. The urgency of reframing and reinterpreting popular myths as a way of critiquing and changing mindsets (where these need to be changed), is also explored in depth. The book is, therefore, a critical and insightful study of the works of two women that, although written in different periods, yet, intersect in these pages. The novels studied are those relating specifically to China and the Chinese/Chinese-American experience, the main subject being the Chinese woman, both in her own local space as well as outside of it. Storytelling enables the transmission and perpetuation of values, culture and history which, [as depicted here], are crucial to self-knowledge, and to an understanding of ones place and identity in the universe . The self that is represented in these novels [therefore], is not a self in isolation, but a self that is a part and parcel of the human tapestry where race, gender, culture and history meet and intersect.

REA's MAXnotes for Toni Morrison's Tar Baby MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each section of the work is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

Three siblings tell the stories of their very different childhoods in Vancouver's Chinatown before and during World War II.

The coauthor of the Destroyer series brings an age-old quest to modern-day New York in this “brilliant [and] imaginative” thriller (TheNew York Times Book Review). When a jewel-encrusted, gold saltcellar appears for sale in New York, speculation around the piece soars. The gems alone make the vessel incredibly valuable, but some are convinced something even more priceless hides within: nothing less than the legendary Holy Grail. After the owner of the piece is brutally murdered and the cellar taken, speculation turns to conviction—and a deadly hunt for the missing artifact is on. Claire Andrews knows nothing of riches, glory, or mythical relics; she only wishes to avenge the death of her father, who was killed after putting his gold saltcellar on the market. She enlists the help of NYPD detective Artie Modelstein to hunt down the men responsible. But their search for truth lands them unwittingly in the middle of a mystery that has spanned centuries—a lethal quest for power from which no one escapes unscathed . . . Filled with sharp allusions, breathtaking suspense, and clever twists, this is a “surprisingly gripping” fast-paced thriller perfect for fans of The DaVinci Code and The Rule of Four (Kirkus Reviews).