China Dolls

It's 1938 and the exclusive Oriental nightclub in San Francisco's Forbidden City is holding auditions for showgirls. In the dark, scandalous glamour of the club, three girls from very different backgrounds stumble into each other lives. All the girls have secrets. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl, has fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen is from a Chinese family which has deep roots in San Francisco's Chinatown. And, as both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese. Then, in a heartbeat, everything changes. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and paranoia, suspicion, and a shocking act of betrayal, threaten to destroy their lives. China Dolls mines a fascinating part of our cultural history with a trio of women who become a complex constant in each other's lives even as the world serves up painful transformation. Lisa See gets so much just right, here. You'll want to dive right in Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife Superb ... this emotional, informative and brilliant page-turner resonates with resilience and humanity Washington Post In her impeccably researched and distinctive historical saga of desire and ambition, betrayal and revenge set amid the glitz and debauchery of burlesque entertainment on the "chop suey circuit," See again lavishly explores the thorny intricacies of female friendships Kirkus With each new novel, Lisa See gets better and better. Each work is more tightly woven, richer with information, its characters more memorable than the last Los Angeles Times, on Dreams of Joy