And their marriage is in trouble.Īdd to that Hulan's relations with the Chinese authorities of various rank and with the diverse group of artists and scientists at the dig itself. Her American husband, David Stark, is an attorney looking into archaeological thefts at the dam site even as Hulan investigates the apparent murder of an American archaeologist there. She remains haunted by the sudden death of her only child from meningitis, as well as by her own childhood denunciation of her father during the Cultural Revolution, which landed him in a labor camp for several years. Liu Hulan, the central figure, is a sort of Chinese FBI agent with the Ministry of Public Security. Lisa See's novel also takes up the frightening power of a rising religious cult and for good measure supplies a mordant view of the international fine-arts auction world. Beginning with a horrific mob scene that complicates and possibly threatens the life of its already somewhat troubled heroine, Dragon Bones then sprawls across a continent, exploring the subtleties of Chinese politics, the official and actual Chinese attitudes toward foreigners, and the building of the vast Three Gorges Dam and how it is affecting the countryside, the inhabitants and local and national politics. This is not your ordinary art-theft thriller.
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