The Interior - Hardcover

See, Lisa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712679391 ISBN 13: 9780712679398

Publisher: Century, 1999

Synopsis

It begins when an old friend from a village deep within China's interior asks Beijing police detective Liu Hulan to find out the truth about her daughter's suspicious suicide. Hulan can't refuse--even though the case will take her deep into her own buried past, and into the heart of a dangerous mystery. The investigation will also bring her closer to her lover, American attorney David Stark, in a way neither can imagine, for it takes Hulan undercover in an American factory linked to David's new firm. To catch a killer, David and Hulan must decide whom to trust and where their greatest duty lies--dangerous decisions that could cost them their love and their lives....

About this title

Review:

In our world, two years have passed since the publication of Flower Net, Lisa See's debut in thriller fiction, but as The Interior begins, only a few months have passed since Liu Hulan, a detective in Communist China's Ministry of Public Security, and U.S. Attorney David Stark first teamed up to catch a murderer--and rekindled their old love affair. Now, as David struggles to find a way to get back to China--or convince Hulan to move to America--Hulan goes to the village of Da Shui at the request of an old friend whose daughter has been murdered. Initial evidence suggests that it may have something to do with the nearby factory owned by an American toy manufacturer, where hundreds of Chinese women are working in sweatshop conditions. Meanwhile, David's old law firm has suddenly offered him an opportunity to head its new Beijing office, where one of his first duties will be to help one of the firm's corporate clients complete his purchase of the toy company. See's descriptions of daily Chinese life, both in Beijing and the far outposts of the country, are richly detailed. But the novel's even greater strength lies in the contests of will between David and Hulan and their various adversaries--as well as between each other, as Hulan struggles against what she perceives as a threat to her independence, and David must withhold critical information from his partner because it comes from one of his clients. While it certainly helps to have read Flower Net, The Interior is a surefooted exotic thriller in its own right, which will undoubtedly earn Lisa See as many new fans as the old ones it pleases.

About the Author:

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of Dreams of Joy, Shanghai Girls, Peony in Love, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Century
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0712679391
• ISBN 13: 9780712679398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 367