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paperback $15.00
Kensington Publishing Corporation
Paddyfield.com
Powells.com (USA)
More reviews by Melanie Ho
Readers may purchase reviewed books from Paddyfield.com, Asia's online bookseller.North American readers may prefer to buy US editions from Powells.com.
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Petals from the Sky by Mingmei Yip
PETALS FROM THE SKY is not your typical romance novel. Sure, there are elements -- including the requisite steamy scene two-thirds the way through -- but MINGMEI YIP has created her own mash-up of a genre: Harlequin + Asian Fiction.
Set in Hong Kong, China, New York and (briefly) Paris, Yip's second English-language novel tells the story of Meng Ning, a Hong Kong woman who intends on following in the steps of her idol, Yi Kong, a Buddhist nun who has fascinated Meng ever since giving her a pendant of Guan Yin when she was a little girl.
Home from her PhD studies in Paris, Meng enters a week-long Buddhist retreat. It is here where she meets Michael, a Caucasian doctor from New York. Suddenly an option other than a life as a nun presents itself. Following this encounter, Meng's journey takes her around the world as she discovers and decides what kind of life she wants to lead.
Like many such novels, the female lead has her world thrown upside down by a handsome and good man. Like much Asian fiction, the clash of East meeting West is fully exploited. Yip deviates from the expected with her injection of Buddhism throughout the novel, which not only enhances the plot, but adds elements of poetry and art to the storyline.
More subtle than hot and heavy and with a more serious tone then the average romantic-comedy of a novel, Yip has carved out her own niche, one that also appears to integrate parts of her own life. Born in China, Yip has (like her protagonist Meng) a PhD from the Sorbonne in addition to being passionate about classical Chinese art and poetry.
These personal injections aren't always the novel's strong points. Paris, unlike the other locations, isn't used to its full extent and the scenes set in Paris seem extraneous, as if they were included just to say that parts take place in France. And although Yip does well to make use of poetry and philosophy, there are times when you begin to feel your eyes skim over long, delicate descriptions in search for the next moment of action.
Easy to follow and of interest to anyone who wants romance with twist, PETALS FROM THE SKY has a sense of adventure about it that many love stories lack. If there anything confusing about the book, it is that those unfamiliar with Hong Kong may not see the importance of certain scenes taking place in Central as opposed to somewhere in the New Territories. At times, a more "beginners" attitude towards describing Hong Kong is needed.
Still, these are small criticisms and PETALS FROM THE SKY, combining the stock characters and plot of a romance novel, along with Yip's melodic writing offers a love story to be discovered and a new twist on an old story.
Melanie Ho
26/02/2010
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Melanie Ho is a writer who has reviewed for publications in Hong Kong and Canada. |
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