A Cup of Light

by Nicole Mones

As an American appraiser of fine Chinese porcelain, Lia Frank holds fragile beauty in her hands, examines priceless treasure with a magnifying lens. But when Lia looks in the mirror, she sees the flaws in herself, a woman wary of love, cut off from the world around her. Still, when she is sent to Beijing to authenticate a collection of rare pieces, Lia will find herself changing in surprising ways…coming alive in the shadow of an astounding mystery.

As Lia evaluates each fragile pot, she must answer questions that will reverberate through dozens of lives: Where did these works of art come from? Are they truly authentic? Or are they impossibly beautiful forgeries--part of the perilous underworld of Chinese art? As Lia examines her treasure, a breathtaking mystery unravels around her. And with political intrigue intruding on her world of provenance and beauty, Lia is drawn into another, more personal drama--a love affair that could alter the course of her life.

Genres: Fiction, China, Art, Romance, Contemporary, Asia, Book Club

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The atmospheric novel, A Cup of Light by Nicole Mones, is the tale of a young porcelain expert who flies to China to evaluate a collection of artwork up for international sale. Having spent a month in China and in Hong Kong, I was enthralled with the history of the art as it related to the different dynasties and the differences in the art produced as determined by their different processes. This vast country’s history is humbling in its achievements. I loved spending time in the museums viewing many of the pieces and its associated history.

Lia Frank finds the circumstances vastly different from what she had expected when she finds greed, deception and political turbulence instead of clarity when she tries to learn the origin of a huge collection of priceless porcelains. We see the slightly shady Hollywood Road antique district in Hong Kong and the professional underworld smugglers who move art illegally out of mainland China as well as the Chinese museum officials who want to bring back every piece taken out of the country by Western marauders. Each of these players in the game carries his own secret, and it is Lia’s job to find the truth as she sorts through the puzzle and uncovers the true history of the collection. And as she yearns for a relationship with more than an inanimate work of art, she meets Michael in the hutong where she is staying in Beijing as she begins to realize her dreams.

“And Albert made her feel that it was all right to sense a connection to objects, because objects in their perfection resembled love. And when they were imperfect, you loved them for their flaws too. As it was in life.”

“That’s Cantonese. Hoi moon geen san. The Mandarin would be kai men jian shan. Let the door open on a view of the mountains. The dealers in Hong Kong, the runners who bring the pots out of China—they all say this. They love to say it.”

I found the website for Nicole Mones very interesting regarding the process of bringing this powerful and important story to publication. While Nicole Mones does not have a background in art history, she was curious to see that Chenghua chicken cup was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.75 million. So she set out to understand why anyone would pay so much for a small porcelain cup. To answer that question Mones enlisted the help of Mee Seen Loong, a top porcelain expert with Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. During this process she began reading through a selection of art books as they went to auctions and previews and visiting porcelain experts in their back room. Ms. Loong introduced Mones to the world of porcelain smugglers that are so prominent in the story. And as she says, “Art in China does not reflect or evoke the past; it is the past. He who holds the nation’s artistic legacy holds its cultural patrimony.” Therefore, when the Japanese were approaching Peking in the 1930s, Chinese officials frantically picked up the majority of the masterpieces in the Forbidden City—an art collection that had been continuously built for 1100 years. The art collection was split into three parts for safety and was hidden and spirited around China for years. Many people had given their all to keep the art safe. This was a riveting book that I loved for all of its many facets. Having only read The Last Chinese Chef, I find Nicole Mones to be a wonderful writer with lyrical and spare prose. And I look forward to reading more of her books.

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 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.

[Ozma · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! I never knew about chinese porcelain cups, but they are a whole world unto themselves. They are incredibly valuable, but there are also many fakes ("fang gu") that are difficult to spot. The main character is a chinese cup expert, and her descriptions and her fascination with the cups are contagious. She is assigned to review the contents of a recently found collection that contains the most exquisite cups she has ever seen, with the finest, tiniest paintings and unique porcelain shades. She is also deaf and wears hearing aids. Taking her aids out and having the world silent is a reprieve for her, a relief actually. I was actually envious and almost wondering what the perfect silence would be like. There is also romance, the mystery of where the cup collection came from, and the shady Chinese underworld of art smuggling and peddling forgeries. There are a couple undeveloped storylines, like one about a Silicon Valley Chinese-American gazillionaire interested in buying the cups. We just learn very little about him, and I wonder why his stories and others were included. (Hopefully my book club will explain the deeper meaning to me.) Also, there are too many characters to manage and keep straight. I was mainly interested in the couple of primary characters. But other than these very minor criticisms, this is basically a perfect novel. UPDATE: As I reflect more on this book over the years, I realize it deserves the final 5th star. It is a truly great book that will stay with you long after you finish it. Plus, major kudos to Ms. Mones for "liking" my review recently. I totally appreciate authors who like their readers!

[Kyla Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, lovely read that is easily gobbled up. I love books that teach me about something new and this was a delight to dive into.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

SO DISAPPOINTING !!! I spent nearly all day reading it , got half way and then skimmed big chunks to the end. Repetitive and dry . Nothing like her other book The Last Chinese Chef which I loved . Uggghhhhh . Good news is I'm now free to start a new book . 1/2 of the star was for the lovely cover !

[Lenora Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my 'Introduction' to Nicole Mones. Or, at least, to her writing. I shall search out her debut novel, Lost in Translation, and others she may have out there. I was thoroughly entranced by this book.

A Cup of Light is not a fast paced book; it is a deliberately woven story. I loved the two main characters, Lia and Michael. I could definitely relate to Lia's deafness, and how she loves to remove her hearing aids to be enveloped in a cocoon of quiet where she can focus on her work, and also visit her memory files. She has trained her memory, since childhood, to file everything away, and when she needs to find a particular memory, either of porcelain or anything else she has filed, she knows just were to find it.

Lia Frank, an American who reads Chinese, but due to her deafness does not speak it well, is a highly gifted appraiser of Chinese porcelains. She is sent to China by her employer with a companion to appraise several antique porcelains. Her companion gets sick en route, and she ends up going alone, without the second set of eyes needed for such a task. Most of the pieces are genuine, some are exquisite forgeries, and she must know the difference.

Mones takes us into the world of porcelain, what makes it so beautiful, so rare, so beloved by emperors and collectors the world over. When Lia goes into her memory files to help her decide which is real, which is fake, we get some absolutely fascinating tidbits of Chinese and porcelain history. When she finds forgeries, even they are good enough, exquisite enough, to almost cause her pain.

This story is a tapestry woven from the lives of several people, primarily focusing on Lia. The threads are brought in when needed, and by the end of the book, the tapestry is finished, beautiful, and worthy to hold A Cup of Light.

[hadashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

like her other novels, this is an education in a novel. the premise is that a fabulous cache of Chinese Imperial porcelains found somewhere, that has been previously uncatalogued, needs to be appraised. a rather singular woman goes to do the job, and her knowledge is encyclopedic…which means that i read this book with my computer ready to Google search every piece of porcelain she mentions, so i could actually see what a double gourd or wucai or a chicken cup looked like. some may find this book a little too dense with its depth of porcelain lore, but if you’re like me and enjoy novels that introduce a new world to you, especially in retelling history as human story, then this is a well-written glimpse into the arcane and lucrative world of Chinese porcelain; both its current trade and its rich lineage.

[Tejas Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a few months ago for a book group challenge, but didn't get around to writing a review at the time. While I liked this book, I didn't love it. I was a bit bored by the plot and characters. Even so, Mones is a wonderful writer, and I do appreciate her word crafting ability. I wanted to like this book more, but it just didn't captivate me like The Last Chinese Chef. I do expect to also read Lost in Translation and have hopes it will be more my "cup of tea."

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book and I was really impressed. The book was written in way that served as a reflection of the story itself. The book was about so many things, above all the history and artistry of Asian pottery. The story unfolded as delicately and artfully as the ceramics themselves. I found myself "sipping" the story, not wanting to rush, wanting to savor. This was no action packed adventure. Instead it was about the eternal and internal. I haven't been moved to write to an author, personally, in a while, but I think it's time.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was unique and I was impressed by the author's knowledge and command of Mandarin, the social geography of Beijing and other cities around China and not least of all her knowledge of porcelain and history.

I found the characters a bit weak, and the the story wasn't that intriguing. A fairly good read.

[Stacey D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love everything this woman writes. Everything. Intense, expansive and wonderful novels set in Asia: art, history, family, love. Mones’ best was Lost in Translation, and I’m hopeful she’ll introduce a new one to rival its appeal soon. It’s been too long.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something iridescent and magical about this novel, I am not a skilled enough writer or critic to quite pin point it….

When you read about an object, Chinese porcelain ancient wares, and author’s word choices throughout the book reflect the essence of the object…what is that?

Synchronicity? That is more “connection between the objective and subjective world” as defined by Jung. Serendipity? That is much more of a happy coincidence.
This is planned and exquisitely executed.

Ms. Mones crafted her writing to mold a language that delicately and with intricate decorative strokes delivers an echo of collectible Chinese porcelain.

The book in the past that most made me feel this harmony between story and word choices as being totally in-sync was Moby Dick. In that writing I felt the movement of the sea, the capriciousness and danger of whales, the threat and suffocation of madness extended in the words, the sentences, the weaving of chapters and form.

In “A Cup of Light” the words are delicate and precise the sentences gorgeous, otherworldly and the story expensive and desirable because it has oneness with the subject.

This was a lesson in beauty and attention to detail and form. Thank you to my lovely sister-in-law for loaning it to me with a sparkle in her eye. She knew it was going to captivate me. It did. I am. It is all that.

[Michelle Diener · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a sensual pleasure. This second novel by the author of Lost in Translation is a wonderful mix of delighting the senses with art and with love. Lia Frank, a porcelain expert for a high-end auctioneers (think Sothebys), flies to China to evaluate twenty pieces of porcelain her and her boss are given to understand are being offered quietly for sale by the Chinese government. With a buyer already in place, Lia’s job is to check the value, make sure there aren’t any fakes in the mix, and try to work out where the porcelain comes from. What she discovers on arrival is that there aren’t twenty pieces, there are 800 pieces. Staggered, astonished, Lia settles in for a much longer stay than she anticipated.

Mones weaves Lia’s knowledge of porcelain through the story like a fine, never-ending banquet, as a reader, you truly drink from a cup of light and are enlightened. I’ll certainly never look at any good chinese porcelain the same way again. An added twist is that Lia is deaf. She wears hearing aids, but while she works she takes them out, and gives over all her other senses to the porcelain. It speaks to her in a language only those who are willing to hear can understand.

And while during the day Lia’s senses and intellect are tested by the porcelain, at night she starts to get to know her neighbour in the little apartment block she is staying in, an American doctor and researcher, trying to come to grips with a divorce and the aftermath of cancer. Lia opens herself to love, and takes a chance on finding happiness.

At the same time, she wrestles with the problem of where so much porcelain has come from, and who is responsible for the few fakes she has found. Fakes so beautiful, they are as worthy of credit as the originals they almost succeed in replicating. The answers she finds will turn her ideas about forgery on their head.

This novel manages to be sensual, intriguing and enlightening. I loved it.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it wove so many strands together. First, the lives of Lia, the art evaluator, Michael, a man cut off from himself due to illness, as well as "bit" players like Bia, Guo, Dr Zhang etc.
Then there is the art, which has a dimension and character of its own. The Chenghua Chinese cup distills the uniqueness of a beautiful object and raises the pivotal question raised by Mones, what is fake, what is real? And if fake is almost as good as real does that matter?
I liked that philosophical question beneath the bustle of Lia's work, the Chinese streets, the business side of the sale of a fantastic collection of art.
But it isn't the only question raised. Selling art to other countries - Wrong or right? Are there nuances?
I think I loved the art the most though. Lia was interesting and I enjoyed finding out about her, but getting to understanding porcelain a little was, for me, the best part.
I want to read more by Mones.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another from Nicole Mones, which I read after The Last Chinese Chef. This book, in particular, had a huge infuence - my partner in Paris and I both read it and named our new company after a phrase in the book - hoi moon, meaning when something is perfect or 'just right.' This time the background is Chinese porcelain and the primary character is a woman who flies to China to evaluate a collection of artwork up for sale. The interesting love interest brings a perfect frisson of sensuality in human form to the story.

[BCDee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho hum. Honestly, the only reasons that I'm continuing this book are because a) I've never read about Chinese porcelain and I am learning a bit about it...googled the antiques the protagonist mentioned because I was curious; b) I only give up if it's really, really bad. Too many subplots and sub-characters - fading interest and I'm getting confused. Book jumps around back and forth to different subplots too often. Her writing is...stilted? Formal? I feel at arms length. So far she has moments of brilliant observation hidden away in pages and pages of cliched writing.

ETA: Didn't finish.

[Rob Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book about authenticating fine Chinese porcelain with a love story wrapped into a thriller. What a great read!!!! I was impressed that the author got all the details correct. My Chinese is not fluent, but I could tell that all the Chinese was correct. She also was able to write such lovely descriptions of the porcelain. If only I had enough money to buy some really nice pieces.

[Patricia Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A museum teacher friend with a love of Asian art loaned me this book, saying that it was "beguiling," and it certainly is! The style is clear and almost simple, the relationships complex and the story plays out luminously, like the Chinese porcelain that the novel is about. I started it as a "train book," something that I read on the train and keep in my backpack, but I soon began taking it out and reading it in bed at night too. A wonderful novel!

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd read The Last Chinese Chef and liked it a lot so I felt safe reading A Cup of Light. And yes, I liked it. A lot.

If the actual writing isn't good I can not read even a well-plotted book. This one has it all. Good writing. Interesting characters. Terrific intertwining plot. Fascinating subject. I will joyfully move on to reading another Mones book!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

She writes such interesting and satisfying books. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about antique Chinese porcelain, not to mention the excellent characterisation. I think I still prefer her 'Last Chinese Chef', which is one of my top reads of all time.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each one of Nicole Mones' three books is a delight to read. All take place in today's China. This one is about antique porcelains and memory. Her new one is centered around Chinese food. You will be entranced.

[Ann Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written character-driven suspense set in contemporary China. Nice psychological study of a brilliant porcelain evaluator as she unravels the origins of a mysterious collection. A window into an obscure and fascinating world. Nicole Mones also wrote Lost in Translation.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn into this story by the beautiful and clear writing and the way the characters were quietly introduced. Each with their individual quirks, they were quickly described but gently became part of the whole story as they were returned to, to help develop and enrich the story. The story itself, about beautiful Chinese porcelain was so well researched, I learnt a lot as I read along and then mixed were all the characters who were literally stealing Chinese historic treasures to be sold to an American (Chinese) whose only intention was to have them, to hold them, to hide them. Normally I would have an issue with this but reading this I was conflicted. With so much corruption at higher levels in the book (and now out in the real world in nearly every government at the moment, 2025) maybe it is a good idea to keep these beautiful pieces safe by someone who appreciated them. While the value of the porcelain collection is always in the story, what I found was that every one who had a role in getting these beautiful pieces to their new safe home out of China, really loved and appreciated the breathtaking beauty of the pieces they were smuggling and keeping safe.
I liked how every character was given their space to quietly develop, they became real, and interesting, and every character mattered. And mixed in with Lia's story and work as the porcelain expert, who finds the fakes among the real, is her new story of finding someone who completes her. There is enough backstory given to each character to place them in the story without any tedious flashbacks. Michael's story slowly unfolds while his relationship with Lia begins, develops and strengthens. Their story works well because it is real.
The descriptions of the places in China, Hongkong, New York, and Arizona are quickly but clearly described to fix their place in the story. As I was reading about Jingdezhen, the pottery town/city in China I realised I knew about this already. It took me a couple of days to realise where I had already read about this place. It is in a book by Edmund De Waal called, THE WHITE ROAD, the history of porcelain. De Waal begins his story in Jingdezhen because this is where porcelain first started and I cannot recommend this book more highly, if porcelain has peaked your interest.
My overall impression is this is a beautiful piece of writing, with well developed characters, a great sense of place, a little bit of a thriller in places, a little touch of real romance, but overriding all is the sense of how beautiful Chinese porcelain is. This may be a spoiler but The Cup Of Light is the thread that runs through the story to end, a chicken with a ruffled feather painted on translucent and glorious porcelain.
Read this story and enjoy it, it is a masterpiece of writing. A Glorious read.

[Bidasari · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A crack in a porcelain is the imperfection but you must love it for whatever it is. The same goes for life"

Another book by the author that make me drawn more to the imperial porcelain collections and their histories from the Qing and Ming dynasties rather that the main characters, Lia Frank, the fine Chinese porcelain appraiser and Michael Doyle, a cancer survivor who is also the biochemist researcher studying the children's lead level in Beijing.

You will be transported to the era where the arts are so exquisite that will left you breathless and of course sort of entice you to google what each piece of the valuable masterpiece and treasures look like especially the most precious one, the Chenghua chicken cup.

The gifted porcelain makers can replicate a porcelain very similar, almost to the perfection to the original, a fake but a very good fake. The reproduction of the past masterpieces they said.

The world of underworld professional Chinese arts smugglers is very dangerous but its a lucrative businesses.

I am never someone who are interested in any tablewares in my 42 years but after reading this book, I am thinking of looking into some beautiful tea set or dining set😅What book did to you😅

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Cup Of Light offers an absorbing story while educating its readers in the intricacies of traditional Chinese porcelain and the culture that produced it. The tragedy of Chinese modern history, namely China's struggle to adapt to a westernized world profoundly at odds with Confucian and Buddhist thinking, is tempered by the resilience and resourcefulness of the people themselves.

Other motifs emerge as the tale progresses: the art of memory, the isolation endured by experts (or scholars as they would have been called by traditional Chinese), and the marginal role of women, whether they be artistic geniuses or second wives--and this in spite of the impressive strides made since the revolution.

Of ms. Mones's literary technique, I will say only that she is a first-rate writer and storyteller, deeply familiar with the culture and language.

At bottom, a Cup of Light is an exploration of beauty and the attempt to salvage the corpus and spirit of one of the world's most delicate and refined art forms. It may not be Jackson Pollack or even Winslow Homer, but rather the eternal poetry of two birds sharing a branch.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shipment of porcelain from the imperial collection is being sold to a wealthy American collector. Is the sale legal or an astoundingly complicated smuggling scheme? If it isn’t legal and the figures involved are caught, they could be executed. The story follows a set of characters involved in getting the collection authenticated and then transported. It manages to go beyond the obvious reasons such as avarice to look at more subtle motivations for their involvement with these beautiful objects of art. Lia Frank is the appraiser that is sent to authenticate the collection and she is a quite fascinating character. She has a prodigious memory in which she has stored a considerable amount of what is known about Chinese porcelains. She has a phrase she likes to use for their breathtaking beauty—hoi moon―”let the door open on a view of the mountains.”

[Jennifer E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from a friend because it looked interesting, and certainly it was! Enjoyed learning about the inter workings of the smuggling of Imperial porcelain out of China, for love and profit. It’s very inclusive that the lead character has a hearing impairment and that she uses it to her advantage, and although it doesn’t actively contribute much to the story line in my opinion, I appreciate the representation. There’s a bit of focus on the “other” of this character, without a whole lot of tension or resolution though, and I think it could have been finessed.

There are areas of tension in the book, near the end (last 1/5th??) but generally there’s not a whole lot of movement to the story line. Overall OK read.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second book by this author, and I enjoyed it as well as the first. Lia Frank is an expert on Chinese porcelain. She is hired to investigate and report on a collection of supposedly ancient porcelain artifacts in Beijing, from the various dynasties. When she arrives, the items she expected to number about 20 turn out to number about 800.

As she begins her investigations, we learn about the business of porcelain in Beijing and Hong Kong, the various means of smuggling items out of China, and the role of reproduction pieces in the trade.

I learned a lot, found the plot and characters of interest. Recommended!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting book that defies classification. It has mystery, history, a bit of romance, a main character who has what some would consider a disability, and international intrigue. Most of the story takes place in modern day Beijing, but really covers the art of ancient China in particular the art of porcelain. There are some shady characters that are very ingenious, some masters of creating and copying porcelain, international businessmen, our protagonist who leads us thru all the ins and outs of a very complicated transaction and her new found love.

Well written, a well crafted story, and a book that will stay with me for quite a long time to come.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique and wonderful book. It tells the story of a young woman who is a porcelain expert, sent to China to assess a collection to determine which ancient pots are "real" and which are fake. The descriptions of her assessment technique, her deep appreciation for the beauty of the ancient porcelain pots and the insight into each step along the way of smuggling out ancient art treasures is eye opening and memorable.

Highly recommended, especially if you are fascinated by China.