Gift of the Golden Mountain - by Shirley Streshinsky (Paperback)

About the Book

California in the 1960s and 70s forms the background to a saga of one family's passions, past and present, played out against the explosive era of the Vietnam War. It follows the young part-Chinese heiress, May Reade, as she searches through her illustrious heritage for the roots of her own identity and her struggle to reconcile her Asian self with the American. Her journey of self-discovery takes her from the anti-war barricades of Berkeley to a remote village in China where she at last meets the mother who had deserted her at birth. There, in the country of her ancestors, she will not only begin to understand her confusion, but will find her future happiness and, in the final, savage climax of the fall of Saigon, decide her own destiny.
Gift of the Golden Mountain continues the story of the pioneering Reade family, first encountered in the author's earlier novel Hers the Kingdom. Seen through the eyes of faith, lifelong family friends and archivist, it describes with telling effect the pain one generation inflicts on the next, and the healing power of love and compassion, forgiveness and commitment.

Book Synopsis

California in the 1960s and 70s forms the background to a saga of one family's passions, past and present, played out against the explosive era of the Vietnam War. It follows the young part-Chinese heiress, May Reade, as she searches through her illustrious heritage for the roots of her own identity and her struggle to reconcile her Asian self with the American. Her journey of self-discovery takes her from the anti-war barricades of Berkeley to a remote village in China where she at last meets the mother who had deserted her at birth. There, in the country of her ancestors, she will not only begin to understand her confusion, but will find her future happiness and, in the final, savage climax of the fall of Saigon, decide her own destiny.
Gift of the Golden Mountain continues the story of the pioneering Reade family, first encountered in the author's earlier novel Hers the Kingdom. Seen through the eyes of faith, lifelong family friends and archivist, it describes with telling effect the pain one generation inflicts on the next, and the healing power of love and compassion, forgiveness and commitment.

Review Quotes

"Shirley Streshinsky's fiction shows us who we are and how we got this way. It is the best historical fiction being written in America today, and her new novel, Gift of the Golden Mountain . . . is her best work." --John Jay Osborn, Jr., bestselling author of Paper Chase

"Streshinsky writes with sincerity and intelligence about the tragedy of war, friendships among women, the precarious emotional balance between parents and children and the search for cultural, racial and geographical roots." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A brilliant effort, deeply textured." --Robert Elegant, author of From a Far Land

"This book adds a substantial amount of understanding to the Asian America literature . . . being created in America. . . . this book, with its fresh, youthful innocence, will appeal to many readers." --Han Suyin, author of A Many-Splendored Thing

From Publishers Weekly
Meticulous research, nonstop adventure and a sparkling evocation of place combine to make this sequel to Hers the Kingdom a compellingly readable account of the lives of the multi-ethnic, wealthy Reade family. Although it centers on May Reade (aka Wing Mei-jin), whose disappearance in the vastness of mainland China provides the book with a bang-up start, her aunt and guardian, Kit McCord, is a formidable runner-up for attention. Twin of Porter Reade, May's father (now dead but long under indictment for leftwing activity), Kit has mothered May from birth, her own mother, Ch'ing Ling, having determined to return alone to China. Now, however, believing that Kit was responsible for Ch'ing Ling's decision, May repudiates her once-beloved aunt and sets out to find the woman, haunter of her dreams, who gave her infant daughter into another's care. But many action-packed journeys precede this one, as May, a geologist obsessed with volcanoes, travels to Hawaii and then to Southeast Asia to study and observe. She is always in danger, often imprisoned and tortured, dogged by the persistent hatred and resentment of a former friend as well as by her father's reputation and the political activism of her Chinese family. This is a rousing tale, a bit weak on characterization, but propelled by Streshinsky's sure sense of narrative drive.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Shirley Streshinsky is a critically acclaimed author of three works of nonfiction and four historical novels. As a journalist and travel essayist, she has written extensively for a wide range of national magazines such as Redbook, Glamour, Preservation, American Heritage, The American Scholar, and Condé Nast Traveler. She is the recipient of the Society of Magazine Writers' Award for Excellence and the National Council for the Advancement of Education Writing award, and was cited by The Educational Press Association of America for "superlative achievement in features." Her travel essays have been a feature on National Public Radio. She was married to the late photojournalist Ted Streshinsky and resides in Kensington (Berkeley), California.