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| A Cup of Light | 
| Author: Nicole Mones
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $1.35
You Save: $12.65 (90%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 312591
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0385319452
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780385319454
ASIN: 0385319452
Publication Date: April 29, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Another interesting read November 11, 2007
After enjoying the Last Chinese Chef I sought out Nicole Mones's other titles. This book is both educational about Chinese pottery or "pots" and another example of the implicit competency of professional women at work. After reading you will appreciate Chinese pottery, but become very cautious about paying high prices without consulting experts.
 Study in Chinese Porcelain September 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This second novel by Nicole Mones centers around the life of Lia Frank, an expert in Chinese porcelain working for an American auction house, who is sent to Beijing to evaluate a cache of pottery that could be worth a fortune. Her job is to determine whether this pottery is real or just brilliant fakery. Along the way, Lia develops a relationship with an ex-pat doctor who is doing research in China.
Although the novel's romance is fine, it takes a back burner to the art world mystery of whether this porcelain is real or not. In the novel, Lia Frank also has an unusual talent: She is able to remember every piece of pottery she's ever seen, including those in catalogs. This may be too convenient of a plot twist for this intriguing tale, although it does make the character interesting. The real heart of the novel, however, centers around Mones's descriptions of the process and history of Chinese porcelain, as well as the art of smuggling (via Hong Kong). This is the most fascinating part of the book.
Mones's earlier book about China, "Lost in Translation," is a more engrossing tale (note: it has nothing to do with the movie of the same title). However, Mones is a good writer, and "A Cup of Light" is not a bad read. The story, however, will be most enjoyable for those with a bent for Chinese porcelain or anyone enjoying a good smuggling tale.
Beautiful experience August 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed reading this book, not just the unraveling of the story but the reading of the scenes and the development of the characters and what mattered to each of them. Mones' writing style conveyed the amazing beauty of porcelain and of the touching romance that develops. Mones' latest book, The Last Chinese Chef, was recommended to me but not available in the library, so I borrowed this one instead. It was such a beautiful read. Now I can't wait to read The Last Chinese Chef!
 A Cup of Light by Nicole Mones April 9, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A thought-provoking and enjoyable read. A book that should be saved for another read in a year or two. Great insights into the worlds of the Chinese, porcelain collectors, and the deaf.
 Splintered Story March 19, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
After sitting on my nightstand for several years, I finally pulled this one out, dusted it off & read. I didn't read Mones' first book. I suppose the film "Lost in Translation" caused me to pick this out of the discount bin of a local bookseller. I enjoyed moving into the world of fine porcelain, something about which I have relatively little knowledge. Mones does a good job of making this solitary activity come alive through her main character Lia Frank.
The problem with the book is that there really isn't much of a story. Lia's memory boxes where she stores and memorizes information seemed like a technique that I wish I could utilize. The detective work on where the Wu collection of pots originated unfolded like a mystery, making the pots almost seem like living characters. Lia's disability seemed to be turned to an ability to focus as she would often take out her hearing aids and bathe her mind in silence. I found it hard to keep characters straight. Many never actually made it into the story -- Dr. Zheng, the employer she phones, Phillip, the colleague who never makes it to China, her father who isn't dead. Then there is an international incident that is thrown in of a downed jet, which seems contrived. In the end, the conflict of the story seemed to be between Lia and herself, having the confidence to grade the pots without assistance and to fall in love. The Chinese buyers, Gao, Pao, Bai & Stanley plus the potters such as Yu were harder for me to place in the story as to which part of the deal they occupied. They never became distinct people to me. Perhaps if she'd had personal interaction with them or if they'd been described with unique characteristics or more different ages, it might have helped. Her romantic interest Mike researches kids with led poisoning. He breaks down and cries when one of the kids dies, but yet spends most of his time saying how they didn't affect him. The fact that he was rebounding off a devastating divorce after a battle with cancer made him more depressing than emotionally deep or romantic. Lia's world and Mike's world never seemed to interface, which maybe was the barrier to their relationship. However, it served to make a splintered story increasingly disjointed. The love relationship seemed abrupt. The shower scene with Lia's manual manipulation was strangely written. While this specialist's world of fine porcelain came alive, there wasn't much of a coherent story that seemed to build in "A Cup of Light." It was more like patchwork story snippets woven in to a quilt-like concoction we'll call a novel. I'm glad to have read the book; but in five years it will be hard for me to tell you what it was about. Taxi!
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