The Lost Daughter of Happiness by Geling Yan

First published in 2001

The Lost Daughter of Happiness is a remarkable novel, a love story unlike any I've read. It unfolds in alternating points of view. Writing in the second person, as if she were speaking to Fusang, looking back at Fusang's life from the present day, the narrator's language is factual, unemotional, sometimes bordering on contemptuous: You are a prostitute, she says, brought to California from China, one who didn't die during the long voyage, who didn't succumb to disease or beatings after being sold into slavery. "I certainly won't let people confuse you with any of the other three thousand whores from China." Occasionally the narrator quotes histories of the California Gold Rush from which she draws her account of Fusang. Occasionally she tells Fusang tidbits about her own life as a recent Chinese immigrant, about her own perplexity understanding the ways of white people, including her husband.

The other point of view is third person, telling the story of Fusang in its own time, sometimes shifting to the lives of others, particularly Chris, the white teenager who quietly worships Fusang's beauty, whose life changes because of her. The other central character is Fusang's Chinese warlord-like kidnapper. Both men love Fusang, and to some extent hate her, in their own warped ways. Fusang, in turn, has special feelings for both men--as distinguished from the hordes of undifferentiated men who want to sleep with her, whose names she's incapable of remembering.

Whether she's describing a battle between Chinese clans (of which Fusang is the indirect cause) or the culture shock and isolation experienced by Chinese immigrants past and present, Geling writes with a fluid grace. Geling avoids sympathetic language, yet her stark portrayal of Fusang's plight is incredibly moving. Still, Geling paints Fusang as largely unaffected by pain or trauma. Fusang may just be simple-minded, but she evinces a knowingness that the other slave girls lack. She understands how to steal pleasure from pain, how to find freedom in enslavement. Unlike the other prostitutes, she's content with a diet of fish heads. There is something zen-like about her simplicity.

Geling writes powerfully about race riots in San Francisco more than a century ago and about present day skinheads who profess their racial hatred on talk shows. She writes about rape and redemption. This short but wide-ranging novel is filled with tension and ugliness while maintaining a soft, quiet tone, but it is also filled with hope and beauty. It is a stunning performance. The Lost Daughter of Happiness deserves a much larger audience.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Flight of Honor by Richard S. McEnroe

First published in 1984

Flight of Honor is the second novel in the short-lived "Far Stars and Future Times" series. Its predecessor, The Shattered Stars, is a space opera in the classic vein. Flight of Honor is a more ambitious undertaking, a novel of political intrigue and alien culture that is reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh's work. The two novels are so different, in fact, it wouldn't be clear that they are part of the same Future History if the banner on the cover didn't tell us so.

The Galatian hold-lord is dead, and his first born, Cianna Canbhei, has ascended to that title. Her brother, second born Cian, feeling he can make no meaningful contribution to the family in his current role, decides to join the Consortium Mercantile. On his journey to the Consortium Enclave, Cian encounters the one-armed outcast Oin Ceiragh, who formerly served the Consortium and makes it his business to dissuade others from following that path. Oin (a Galatian who seems to resemble a cross between a Hobbit and The Incredible Hulk) tells Cian his story -- a story of joining the Terran Dani Yuen as an assassin for the Guild of Resolution, self-appointed protectors of the Earth, destroyers of those who oppress it, from polluting industrialists to religious zealots. A journalist who has been critical of the Guild's methods becomes Oin's target.

The novel deals with serious and timeless themes of honor, betrayal, duty, and fear. The two Galatians each believe the other has made choices based on fear rather than honor, while the Terran's involvement with Oin leads her to question her own commitment to the Guild. While McEnroe's story raises interesting questions about situational ethics and moral dilemmas that cannot easily be resolved, the novel never bogs down in heavy philosophical discussions. Plentiful action scenes and a brisk pace make this short novel a quick read, while its larger themes make it a satisfying one.

RECOMMENDED

Spy Sinker by Len Deighton

Published by HarperCollins in September 1990

Spy Sinker retells the Samson saga (as developed in the Game, Set, and Match trilogy and in the first two books of the Hook, Line, and Sinker trilogy) from the points of view of players other than Samson: notably his wife Fiona, the bombastic fellow agent Bret Rensselaer, the Director General Henry Clevemore, and the power behind the scenes, Silas Gaunt. Most of the novel centers on the Game, Set and Match time frame. It fills in gaps and provides additional insight into Fiona, but unlike the other novels, this one is more expository, more telling than showing.

Spy Sinker is essential if you've read the other five for the clarifying background it provides and for tying up loose ends (and maybe even for making sense of the whole thing, because trying to keep information straight that develops over the course of five books is challenging: this novel acts as an outline of prior events). As a stand-alone, however, it's a bit more of a yawner than other books in the series, and certainly a spoiler if you don't save it for last. Its main interest derives from the insight it provides into characters you've grown to know (and to like or dislike, depending on the character) over the course of the first five books.

RECOMMENDED

Beyond this Horizon by Robert Heinlein

First published in 1948

Is there life after death? Hamilton Felix, the main character in Beyond the Horizon, is troubled by that question, as well as one that is equally large and related: What is the meaning of life? Heinlein's novel tackles a simpler question: Are these questions answerable only by faith, or are they the proper subject of scientific investigation?

The story meanders, it dangles some loose ends that aren't nicely resolved at the end, but in essence, the novel follows Hamilton Felix, the recipient of an unusually good genetic structure, as he makes the decision to reproduce, creating genetically designed children whose existence will make a beneficial contribution to the human race. As Hamilton ponders his reproductive decision, he helps foil a plot to rid the world of (supposedly inferior) individuals who haven't been genetically designed, befriends a man from the 1920's who somehow remained in stasis until Hamilton's time (the details of that little accomplishment are foggy), and instigates experiments into telepathy and other areas of scientific inquiry that might provide some insight into the meaning of life and the aftermath of death.

Admittedly, some aspects of the novel are a little silly, particularly the notion that this supposedly evolved society has adopted 19th Century formalisms of gentlemanly politeness, complete with duels if offense is given. Heinlein might have thrown that in to explain why his characters are running around armed. And maybe there's just too much going on (genetic engineering, telepathy studies, the possibility of reincarnation, the stasis thing, not to mention differing philosophies of parenting and life's meaning) and a corresponding lack of coherence. Later in his career, Heinlein proved more adept at juggling lots of big ideas in a single novel. Finally, the ending seems a bit out of the blue. But the story is still fun, many of the ideas it advances are still intriguing after more than half a century, and the writing is lively (if occasionally a little clunky).

RECOMMENDED

Adios Muchachos by Daniel Chavarria

Published by Akashic Books on May 1, 2001

Alicia is a bicycle prostitute in Havana. She dresses in shorts and wiggles her butt as she pumps her pedals. One pedal is rigged to fall off, allowing her to tumble in front of the foreign men she seeks as customers. When one helps her up, she persuades him to give her a ride home where her mother makes dinner. The mother then leaves while Alicia seduces the man. Pretending to be too proud to accept money from him, she instead accepts gifts of air conditioners and motor scooters, which she stores in the garage until mother sells them. Because Alicia's wiggling butt is irresistible, she is confident that sooner or later the right man will fall in love with her -- the right man being the one who meets her high standards of wealth and virility.

From this premise, written in prose that borders on hilarity, Daniel Chavvaria crafts a novel that is more a comedy than a mystery -- and a very funny comedy it is. Alicia is hired to have sex with men while a couple watch from behind a mirror. The arrangement leads to prosperity for Alicia, but unfortunate circumstances involve her in what seems to be a kidnapping scheme that goes awry. Alicia maintains her cheery self-confidence throughout the novel, an attribute that makes her a very likable character. The phrase "wickedly funny" could have been invented to describe this book. It isn't deep, it isn't a traditional mystery, but it's loads of fun.

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