Mei is a modern, independent Chinese woman; she runs her own business in Beijing, working as a private investigator, owns a car, and even has that most modern of commodities, a male secretary. One day, 'Uncle' Chen - no relation but a close friend of her mother's - approaches Mei and asks her to find the Eye of Jade. A Han dynasty artefact of great value, the "Eye of Jade" was taken from a museum during the years of the Cultural Revolution, when Red Guards swarmed the streets. The case forces Mei to delve into a dark part of China's history - Mao's labour camps and the countless deaths for which no-one was ever held responsible - and exposes the agonising choices made during the Revolution.But Mei's investigations also reveal a story that has far more to do with the past, and her own family history, than she could ever have expected. Liang has captured Beijing's bustle and noise perfectly and, with its rich cast of characters, "The Eye of Jade" offers a fascinating glimpse of city life in modern China.
| ISBN | 0330447734 | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | | ISBN13 | 9780330447737
(What's this?) | | Pages | 240 | | Publisher | Pan Macmillan | | Published in | London | | Imprint | Picador | | Height (mm) | 197 | | Format | Paperback | | Width (mm) | 130 | | Publication date | 21 Mar 2008 | | Academic level | General | | DEWEY | 823.92 | | Alternative ISBN | 9781605149400 |
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"We've all heard of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," Alexander McCall Smith's bestselling novels about a female private detective from Botswana. Now it's China's turn. On the surface "The Eye of Jade" is a classic detective fiction with lots of underworld contacts and hushed conversations in noodle bars, but underneath, Liang, who fled China after her involvement in the student protests in Tiananmen Square, is doing something much more than an examination of China old and new. There's an incredible tension between old Communist China and a new capitalist future; this tension is at the heart of the novel. This novel takes on subjects that in the past would have been censored." -- Mark Coles, BBC
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