Title: Song of the Silk Road
Author: Mingmei Yip
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: April 1, 2011
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0758241825
Genre: Fiction
In this richly imaginative novel, Mingmei Yip—author of Peach Blossom Pavilion and Petals From the Sky—follows one woman’s daunting journey along China’s fabled Silk Road.
As a girl growing up in Hong Kong, Lily Lin was captivated by photographs of the desert—its long, lonely vistas and shifting sand dunes. Now living in New York, Lily is struggling to finish her graduate degree when she receives an astonishing offer. An aunt she never knew existed will pay Lily a huge sum to travel across China’s desolate Taklamakan Desert—and carry out a series of tasks along the way.
Intrigued, Lily accepts. Her assignments range from the dangerous to the bizarre. Lily must seduce a monk. She must scrape a piece of clay from the famous Terracotta Warriors, and climb the Mountains of Heaven to gather a rare herb. At Xian, her first stop, Lily meets Alex, a young American with whom she forms a powerful connection. And soon, she faces revelations that will redefine her past, her destiny, and the shocking truth behind her aunt’s motivations…
Powerful and eloquent, Song of the Silk Road is a captivating story of self-discovery, resonant with the mysteries of its haunting, exotic landscape.
My Review:
Song of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip is about 29-year-old Lily Lin, whose parents passed away and who is struggling in New York to make ends meet when she learns from the law office of Mills and Man that she has been left three million dollars by Mindi Madison, an aunt from her mother’s side. Naturally, Lily is concerned as she has never heard of an aunt and it seems too good to be true. Lily decides to follow the money and follows the rather bizarre, quirky and at times utterly perverse demands Mindi has left for Lily to follow. Once Lily is in Beijing she meets with Lo and Wang Associates for her final instructions regarding retracing her aunt’s steps along the Silk Road. Lily has eight months to complete the odd requests and then she shall be able to meet with her aunt, yes she is alive, and obtain the money. Let me begin by saying I really did not enjoy reading Song of the Silk Road and many of the reasons would contain too many book spoilers. I think romance fans may enjoy this book, but I do not enjoy reading romance novels, and so the affairs and other events did not endear the book to me. Mingwei Yip does write her characters well, and while I may not have liked many of them, they are very realistic and I truly enjoyed exploring the various locations along the Silk Road with Lily. Yip brings the sights, sounds and smells of China to life for the reader and I truly enjoyed these sections of the book. While the plot was an intriguing one, it fell flat for me and left me questioning too much of the story. Song of the Silk Road may be intriguing to readers who enjoy a novel with traveling, romance, mystery, and more romance. I think I may have found more enjoyment if I had actually discussed this book with others, so I would recommend it as a discussion group pick. Even though Song of the Silk Road did not work for me, I am interested in reading Yip’s other books.
Mingmei Yip was born in China, received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She’s published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City.
I received a complimentary ARC of Song of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Hrmm…love the travel and mystery, but the romance turns me off. I might wait for another one of Yip’s books and read that one.
I was really looking forward to this book and nowhere was romance mentioned and then one of the tasks she is asked to do as part of the will was perverted. I think the story, for me, would have been brilliant without some of the things in it. However, those who like romance added in may enjoy it. I did like her writing style and will look at her other books.
This one sounds very interesting to me. I appreciate the heads-up about the content and I’ll keep that in mind. I think I’ll see if I can find a copy though. The cover is just lovely.
The cover is fabulous! There were several things that took me by surprise and I had several issues (which would be spoilers) but it is just my opinion of one book. Give it a try. The descriptions of China are brilliantly done.
I don’t really enjoy romance either, so I think I’ll skip this one.
I would not have reviewed it had I known in advance. I could not find anywhere where it mentioned the romance and the very perverse bit, which was too bad, as I would have otherwise enjoyed the book. I will look into her others books though.
This book looks really interesting to me, I think I’m going to have to check it out – maybe as my next book club pick! And the cover is stunning!
Excellent. I would very much like to hear your thoughts after you read the book.