This is historical fiction about China and it’s quite well researched – as far as I can tell – and that’s what drew me to it. Sad to say there were only parts which maintained my interest because to get to the history you have to slog through a lot of sex and violence – to the point of gratuitous and extreme – and that’s not interesting to me.
The Incarnations
by Susan Barker
2015 / 374 pages
rating – 6
Susan Barker is the daughter of a British father and a Chinese mother – she lives in London but writes tales about China. The Incarnations is not something I’d recommend to the average reader – it starts slow and doesn’t pick up until toward the end of Chapter 6 when I was reminded of Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian, (1990) a novel which includes a lot of Chinese folktales. Gao Xinjiang won the Nobel prize in lit in 2000 in large part for that amazing work. But Barker is no Xingjian.
Becky's Books - 
I was so glad to see your email. I was afraid you had stopped sending them. Pat
Pat Amarillo
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Thank you, Pat! No, I was at the coast for a week with my iPad only. It’s hard to write the blog from that alone.
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