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book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
2.5**
Lia Frank is an appraiser / art historian, specializing in fine Chinese porcelain. She is sent to Beijing to authenticate a collection of rare pieces and finds herself in the midst of a multi-national effort to remove priceless artifacts from China.
This is the third book by Mones that I’ve read. Unfortunately, I liked it the least of the three.
I think it was that Mones was trying to do too much in one book. The art intrigue is story enough, with a smuggler willing to risk his life to get the collection out of China, a dealer in Hong Kong eagerly awaiting the shipment, and the buyer in America willing to spend all he has to possess these treasures, the pressure is heavy on Lia to authenticate, or be certain if she’s judging something to be a fake. But then the author added an unusual romance.
Michael is an ex-pat physician researcher studying lead levels in children due to Beijing’s pollution. He lives in the same complex where Lia has been given a room-apartment. It’s understandable that they’d be drawn to one another by their “otherness” but the romance just felt like an added extra that really didn’t contribute to the story or the development of the characters.
I’m not sure why Mones chose to have her central character be deaf, though I thought she wrote poetically about the silence Lia retreats to when she removes her hearing aids. And I could certainly see how Lia would use this silence, to “research” through her memory for the stories and evidence to help prove whether an item was real or an exquisite fake. I enjoyed the historical interludes as Lia searched her memory for evidence, and really loved the scene where she tracked down and visited the contemporary maker of extraordinarily fine reproductions. One mystery remains, however relating to the “chicken cup” … but I’ll let other readers find out on their own.
I certainly did like learning more about Chinese porcelains and found myself googling images of the kinds of pots Lia examines.
Lia Frank is an appraiser / art historian, specializing in fine Chinese porcelain. She is sent to Beijing to authenticate a collection of rare pieces and finds herself in the midst of a multi-national effort to remove priceless artifacts from China.
This is the third book by Mones that I’ve read. Unfortunately, I liked it the least of the three.
I think it was that Mones was trying to do too much in one book. The art intrigue is story enough, with a smuggler willing to risk his life to get the collection out of China, a dealer in Hong Kong eagerly awaiting the shipment, and the buyer in America willing to spend all he has to possess these treasures, the pressure is heavy on Lia to authenticate, or be certain if she’s judging something to be a fake. But then the author added an unusual romance.
Michael is an ex-pat physician researcher studying lead levels in children due to Beijing’s pollution. He lives in the same complex where Lia has been given a room-apartment. It’s understandable that they’d be drawn to one another by their “otherness” but the romance just felt like an added extra that really didn’t contribute to the story or the development of the characters.
I’m not sure why Mones chose to have her central character be deaf, though I thought she wrote poetically about the silence Lia retreats to when she removes her hearing aids. And I could certainly see how Lia would use this silence, to “research” through her memory for the stories and evidence to help prove whether an item was real or an exquisite fake. I enjoyed the historical interludes as Lia searched her memory for evidence, and really loved the scene where she tracked down and visited the contemporary maker of extraordinarily fine reproductions. One mystery remains, however relating to the “chicken cup” … but I’ll let other readers find out on their own.
I certainly did like learning more about Chinese porcelains and found myself googling images of the kinds of pots Lia examines.
halfcentreader's review against another edition
3.0
It was interesting learning about Chinese Porcelein especially the historical parts. The narrative jumped around a bit which made things slow going for me, as well as Lia and Michael's relationship not really taking off until the last 50 pages.
anderson65's review against another edition
1.0
Got too distracted by the Chinese names, words, references. Had no frame of reference. Stopped reading after two days.
beththebookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Marvelous descriptions of Chinese porcelain, well-drawn characters, and you-are-there descriptions of contemporary China.
pamelas's review against another edition
3.0
Another good book by Nicole Mones. I found this harder to get into than Lost in Translation, but still a good story. This time the main character is a porcelain expert. She is also either hard of hearing or deaf (the distinction was not quite made) and wears hearing aids, and as the parent of a child who is hard of hearing aid, I liked how she treated this: it was just another trait of the character that defined her as much as being tall and slender did. Like Lost in Translation, this combines history and a love story. I did find changes in the different character points of view to be a little more jarring than I did with LIT, but still a very readable book.
jennybellium's review against another edition
Like Nicole Mones's first book, Lost in Translation, Cup of Light focuses on a foreign woman working in China. In this case, the woman is an expert pottery appraiser, adept at spotting the most skillfully-done fakes. She journeys to China to inspect a large collection of pottery that has just surfaced and is being offered for sale to a nouveau riche American, only to find that instead of the couple dozen pots she was expecting, there are forty boxes, each with tens of pots in it.
In addition to the requisite love story, this book focuses on the history of the pots in question. China's emperors have a rich tradition of commissioning exquisite ceramics for their collections, and consequently the best work is secreted away in the palace. This passion has also led to a vibrant faux-pottery industry, wherein extremely talented artists utilize their skills to recreate the gems of the past. The protagonist of Cup of Light follows the trail of her pots, amazed that such a huge collection could have gone unnoticed over the centuries.
In the end, her sharp eye spots a number of fakes, almost all of which are of extraordinary quality, and tracks down a famous "faker".
2005-10-13
In addition to the requisite love story, this book focuses on the history of the pots in question. China's emperors have a rich tradition of commissioning exquisite ceramics for their collections, and consequently the best work is secreted away in the palace. This passion has also led to a vibrant faux-pottery industry, wherein extremely talented artists utilize their skills to recreate the gems of the past. The protagonist of Cup of Light follows the trail of her pots, amazed that such a huge collection could have gone unnoticed over the centuries.
In the end, her sharp eye spots a number of fakes, almost all of which are of extraordinary quality, and tracks down a famous "faker".
2005-10-13
sharolyn's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting to learn about Chinese ceramics and the long history of exquisite art, replicas, forgery and smuggling. Am keen now to see some of these beautiful pieces up close. Lia was a cool character and I liked the fellow, but just wasn't totally convinced about the romance...
jgeisler's review against another edition
4.0
This is a unique and wonderful book. It tells the story of a young woman who is a porcelain expert, sent to China to assess a collection to determine which ancient pots are "real" and which are fake. The descriptions of her assessment technique, her deep appreciation for the beauty of the ancient porcelain pots and the insight into each step along the way of smuggling out ancient art treasures is eye opening and memorable.
Highly recommended, especially if you are fascinated by China.
Highly recommended, especially if you are fascinated by China.
canadianbookworm's review
4.0
Very good. I got really involved in the characters, and was afraid for them.
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