A Cup of Light

I really like this author. All of her books are set in modern day China with a female American woman who is an expert in a particular field, and that subject is woven throughout the book. In A Cup of Light the main character is an authority on ancient Chinese porcelain, so you learn something about that as well as a bit of related history as you read the book. In each of the Mones books the characters are extremely competent in their professional lives while being troubled by insecurity personally. Lia's concern is "What is real?", both in the antiquities she studies as well as in her relationships.

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 show more 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. show less

Nicole Mones beautifully captures a rich vein of Chinese culture in A Cup of Light, her second novel (following up on Lost In Translation). The main character, Lia, is a young American who is an expert appraiser of ancient Chinese porcelain. She is hearing-impaired but with super-heightened observation skills. The book takes us on her journey as she seeks to sort the genuine from the fake, the luminous from the ordinary. Along the way, we cross paths with a smuggler who risks everything to get cultural artifacts out of China, and the American collector with a need for more than fine china. I found the book a delightful escape with much to offer (suspense, romance, history, and a better appreciation for the art and craft of making show more porcelain). Drink up A Cup of Light! show less

The thing I found fascinating about this book was the way that the main character, Lia, took her hearing aid out and sat back and concentrated on her memory. The way she catalogued the porcelains that she had seen using her memory. She put them into rooms and then when she got home she went back over these rooms, in her mind.
The descriptions of the porcelain were rich and I enjoyed imagining what the pieces looked like. Even the fakes are beautiful, I'm sure.

Marvelous descriptions of cups, bowls, and other porcelain objects. The care and grace taken in making a bowl begs the question of what is authentic and what is a copy.

Story of a woman that is sent to China to appraise a large "just found" collection of porcelain - and the people she meets while there. Lots of interesting historical facts built into the story. Quick moving and interesting.