PAPER BUTTERFLY

The second in the series featuring Mei Wang, Beijing's first private investigator, paints a complex picture of contemporary China. As she searches for a pop star's killer, Mei's investigation switches between present-day Beijing and the weeks surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. Emily Woo Zeller's narration is appropriately understated, a style that is consistent with the quiet but determined character of the slightly disconnected heroine. Zeller’s smooth Mandarin Chinese pronunciation and depiction of characters—who include a disillusioned student revolutionary, a high-rolling entertainment mogul, a lovesick assistant, and a host of elderly country and city dwellers—add to the textured sense of place. Both story and narrator draw the listener straight into the contradictions of old and new China. R.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2009]