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| By David A. Beröna In this debut novel, the narrator relates events in his life as a former Chinese Red Guard named Chai who escapes China and eventually immigrates to the United States from Hong Kong. He becomes a successful banker, marries a younger Chinese woman named Ding, and raises a child. In his leisure time, Chai reads about former President Calvin Coolidge and his shrewd New England personality. A problem develops when Chai stumbles into Selina, his former lover from Hong Kong. Selina is happily married with children and has a successful career. Her oldest son, Chai discovers, is the spitting image of him. When Selina rejects Chai's desire to rekindle their affair, he uses his belief about her son as blackmail. The imaginative conclusion involves clever intrigue by Ding to keep her marriage together and show Chai the error of his foiled plans. The skillful mixture of heartfelt characters and historical events in this witty and inventive story will delight all readers. |
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