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Title details for Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang - Available

Paper Butterfly

#2 in series

by Diane Wei Liang
Emily Woo Zeller
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

In Beijing, Mei Wang is a unique entity--the first successful female private detective. An outsider in her culture, she is independent and solitary. Now she faces her toughest challenge yet. When beloved Chinese popstar Kaili disappears, Wang must unravel a mystery filled with family secrets and the shadowy truth behind China's labor camps. Following her trail of clues, Wang takes readers on a spectacular and sensual tour of China's magnificent capital city.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Mei Wang

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780792764830
      • File size: 156719 KB
      • Duration: 05:26:29

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The second in the series featuring Mei Wang, Beijing's first private investigator, paints a complex picture of contemporary China. As she searches for a pop star's killer, Mei's investigation switches between present-day Beijing and the weeks surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Emily Woo Zeller's narration is appropriately understated, a style that is consistent with the quiet but determined character of the slightly disconnected heroine. Zeller's smooth Mandarin Chinese pronunciation and depiction of characters--who include a disillusioned student revolutionary, a high-rolling entertainment mogul, a lovesick assistant, and a host of elderly country and city dwellers--add to the textured sense of place. Both story and narrator draw the listener straight into the contradictions of old and new China. R.M. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 23, 2009
      Two narratives drive Liang’s absorbing second mystery to feature PI Wang Mei, who once worked for the ministry of public security (after 2008’s The Eye of Jade
      ): Mei’s search for a missing pop singer, Kaili, and a subplot that begins nine years earlier with the imprisonment of a student, Lin, for participating in the student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Mei’s investigation is slowed by the absence of her assistant, Gupin, but as she travels among many Beijing settings, including open-air markets, a big record company’s offices, isolated construction areas and migrant workers’ housing, the city’s astonishing diversity and energy come alive. Fueled by innumerable tidbits about Chinese culture and daily life, the story is refreshingly low on Western-centric references. While the bias is clear, Liang, who left China after taking part in the Tiananmen Square protests, presents the politics with minimal dogma. A twist ending redeems a somewhat thin plot.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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