Paper Lanterns

by Christine Coleman

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Annalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

If a book has the word 'secret/s' on the back cover, I'll read it. I like skeletons in closets, the more shocking the better, I love the tense build up until the final moment The Secret is revealed.

This book has a family secret, and the uncovering of it kept me reading (and I can't say any more about it for future readers must find out for themselves).

After that, what kept me reading was the relationships between the characters, particularly the mother and grown up daughter. Without wanting to get too personal, I think we could all find bits of ourselves in this book, that relate to the way we've felt about people or situations, and that always draws you into a story, it's almost like its YOUR story too.

Ms Coleman has the ability (to use a cliche) to breathe life into her characters, in Paper Lanterns they are 'normal' people with old hurts, insecurities and more positively, the chance to reconnect and understand each other.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have really been looking forward to this latest novel from Christine Coleman for some time now, especially as I knew that I was going to be visiting Hong Kong and Lamma Island myself earlier this year. I was at first a little disappointed that it was not in fact launched until after my return. I had been hoping to read this before travelling to Hong Kong as an insight into the places I was to be seeing shortly. One of the pleasures of reading for me is the new places and things I learn about on the printed page before me.

However that was not to be the case this time and I now actually feel very lucky to have been able to read this after having been in Hong Kong so recently, the whole book came alive on the pages for me. I can reassure you though that even if you have not been there Christine still writes in such a vibrant manner that vivid pictures will be painted in your mind. It is just that for me there was the extra gravitas of familiarity as I trod the same ground as the protagonist Ann myself, just in March of this year. It was sheer pleasure to retread and relive the sights, sounds and smells of Hong Kong through this author's descriptive writing.

This is one of the many scenes that is described perfectly in the novel
Bicycles on the pier at Lamma Island.

If you are interested in a more visual experience of the places you can read about in the novel please feel free to view my recent photos of both Hong Kong and Lamma Island. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mctumble... Volume four is where you will find photos of Lamma in particular. China March 2010

Christine seems to have a talent for taking normal people just like those you come across in everyday life and has managed to weave an engrossing tale around them, that in all feasibility could well have been a real life situation. In fact her inspiration for the novel came from a collection of old letters that came into her possession. Inspiration

A story that covers three different time periods starts with one of the main protagonists Ann planning a trip to Hong Kong to visit her estranged mother, Vivienne. Ann lacking in confidence and plain in comparison has always been in awe of her beautiful mother. Although there has been very little contact between them since Vivienne deserted her family when Ann was only sixteen and she has felt betrayed ever since by the mother she does not think fondly of. In fact Ann always felt much closer to her beloved grandmother and was excited later in the novel when she was able to revisit some of the places that Granibelle who had also spent some time there in the thirties had done.

As a side comment of personal relevance I also found these retracing steps interludes particularly poignant as my own father served part of his army national service in Hong Kong and had related many stories to me about his time there. It meant a lot to me being able to imagine him in certain spots all those years ago, just as Ann and George, the only male protagonist, were able to recreate Granibelle's outings in the novel.

It is while in Hong Kong that Ann discovers, from ephemera that she is given to read by her mother, that there are secrets in her family's past that force her to reappraise her own life. As the story unfolds it is the revelations that will keep you reading about the past pains that the women in this family put themselves through and are only now many years later getting the chance to put behind them and understand each other.

I highly recommend that you get hold of a copy of this novel to read if you can. Ok it is not deep and meaningful, but it is a sheer pleasure to read and relax with. I do not think many people would be able to find anything to dislike about it.

Christine Coleman's last novel was published in 2005 and I read it in 2007.

This was before I was trying to write proper reviews, but you can read what I had to say about it here. http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...



Christine Coleman also has her own website where you will find a lot more interesting information about both her and her writing. I recommend you take a look.
http://www.christinecoleman.net/

[Sorcha]

I havent read Christine's previous novel, but have read several of the books on Christine's previous publisher's "label" (Transita) and enjoy the directions of ordinary people (who arent necessarily special in the looks, money or age department), and most of whom are flawed in someway.

Ann, despite being middle aged - still is the child of a glamorous, attractive woman, and has grown up with the baggage of never feeling pretty, talented or loved enough. She visits her mother in Hong Kong after hearing that the man Vivianne has deserted Ann for has, in turn, deserted Vivianne.[return][return]A week's stay in a foreign and exotic location makes her reassess her relationship not only with her mother, but herself and her grandmother.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the island and it reminded me of many fiction books that I have read set in China and Japan

It did take me a while to get some of the relationships sorted out - It was ages before I relised that Felicity was Ann's step-sister rather than new step-mother, but dot know if that was me being particularly stupid.

[Anne Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've searched out a number of books by ex-Transita authors and they rarely disappoint, but I'm afraid this one did a little. I didn't find that Ann - the lead character, in her 50s - really "lived" on the page and that knocked a bit of a hole in it for me. Her guilt over an event that changed lives just before her 16th birthday just didn't seem real. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is a real and vivid character and the grandmother's story, told largely through letters, is enthralling. If you like the unfolding of family mysteries, this one covers three generations and the way they're interlinked - the cover draws comparisons with Margaret Forster, but the writing sadly didn't have quite the same quality for me. Enjoyable enough, but not quite all it should and could have been.

[Kate Millin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ann hears that the mother, Vivienne, she has been estranged from since she was 16 is upset and not coping. Ann decides on the spur of the moment to go out to Hong Kong to support her. This leads to revelations about a very mixed up family history including lovers for her mum and grandma, relations she didn't know and musings on her current and past life choices. I found Ann and unsympathetic heroine who has been scarred by bullying in her past as well as being abandoned by her mum when she left with her lover. It did make me want to visit Hong Kong again though.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy has an intriguing cover.... I am about to start on this reading journey. Will write later

This is later:


Journal Entry 6 by RedPumpkin at Wainuiomata, Wellington Province New Zealand on 22 July 2013


I agree with you Sherlockfan... Delightful read. Realistic characters and superb setting.

[Sandy Millin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few books set in Hong Kong before, and it was interesting to read one in a different part of the city. The story of the relationships in the book was intriguing and I was interested in the story throughout. The writing style jarred occasionally, but generally I enjoyed it. I didn't realise how involved Christine was in Bookcrossing until I started reading it - good to see this!