Flash House - Softcover

Liu Aimee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755302567 ISBN 13: 9780755302567

Publisher: Headline Books, 2003

Synopsis

When a plane carrying American journalist Aidan Shaw crashes in Kashmir in 1949, his wife Joanna refuses to accept he is dead. Learning that a mysterious female reporter has vanished from the same area, and convinced her husband's disappearance is no accident, she enlists the help of his friend, Lawrence Malcolm, a member of Australia's secret service. In search of answers, they set off, bringing along as translator Kamla. Joanna saved Kamla from an Indian brothel - or flash house - but Kamla is wise in ways that elude Joanna, and soon it is unclear who is saving whom. Their journey through the northernmost reaches of India and over the treacherous Karakoram mountain passes is harrowing and heartbreaking. Suddenly, nothing is as it appears, and as one cruel revelation follows another, this unlikely band finds courage, strength, and unexpected passion in their midst. But will they be strong enough to endure the ultimate betrayal?

About this title

About the Author:

Aimee Liu was an associate producer of NBC's Today show before becoming a full-time writer. She has written more than ten fiction and non-fiction books, and is currently President of PEN USA. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

From Publishers Weekly:

Set in tumultuous post-WWII Asia, Liu's third novel (after Face and Cloud Mountain) is a sweeping espionage thriller that traces a woman's efforts to find her husband after he disappears into the back country of Communist China in 1949. Joanna Shaw, who runs a rescue agency for Asian prostitutes in New Delhi, offers asylum to a 10-year-old rape victim named Kamla. Shortly afterwards Joanna is notified that her husband, Aidan, a journalist who has been targeted by J. Edgar Hoover for alleged Communist sympathies, has gone missing after a plane crash in Kashmir. Convinced that Aidan is alive, Joanna sets off with her husband's friend, Malcolm Lawrence, and Kamla as their interpreter to find Aidan, but their quest hits a dead end after they discover the body of the female journalist with whom Aidan apparently was traveling. As her prospects of locating Aidan fade, Joanna begins an affair with Malcolm, but soon learns that her new lover had a key role with Aidan in an espionage operation, as a result of which Aidan may have defected to China. Liu tracks the shifting alliances of Aidan, Joanna and Malcolm with surefooted storytelling and solid characterization, and introduces layers of suspense rooted in provocative political secrets. The ending is a crescendo of bittersweet revelations, in which Liu's ability to probe issues of East versus West rises to a new level.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0755302567
• ISBN 13: 9780755302567
• Binding: Paperback