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Flash House | 
 enlarge | Author: Aimee Liu
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $27.99
Buy Used: $0.48
You Save: $27.51 (98%)
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 470650
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446691216
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780446691215
ASIN: 0446691216
Publication Date: February 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders are generally shipped no later than next business day. We offer a no hassle gu
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Joanna Shaw kisses her husband, Aidan, goodbye one morning in their rented home in India. She will see him only once more in her lifetime. He disappears while on the trail of a story intended to prove his loyalty to the American government by exposing Communist plots. Weeks pass, and there is no sign of him. When the embassy receives word that he was aboard a plane that went down-and does precious little to locate him-Joanna packs up her son, Simon, and Kamla, whom she has rescued from a flash house, the Indian term for brothel. Chaperoned by Lawrence, Aidan's best friend and former colleague in intelligence, the four trek across Asia and into China in search of Aidan. Kamla and Joanna find strength and courage in each other and their tragic circumstances. Along the way, they form a new kind of family none of them has ever known. Joanna and Lawrence grow closer, finding solace and strength in each other, while Simon and the flash house girl bind their fates irrevocably. In Aidan's absence, they cross not only geo-political boundaries but personal ones as well, and their intimacy becomes a transgression of international interest in a land where nothing is what it seems.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
fabulous July 29, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I LOVED this book. I read a lot, and don't love most of what I read, but I loved this book. Kamla quickly and steadily emerged as the wise and quiet commentary over the unstable and difficult struggle faced by the family she came to love (and not love).
I swear I could SMELL and TASTE India while reading this book.
Brilliant Storytelling February 3, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am exhausted. I have just spent the last week racing around India in the late 1940's, struggling with the loss of love, fighting to keep faith and belief alive, and despairing at the imperfections of the human heart. Aimee Liu's Flash House is a myriad of subplots all rolled into one dazzling central theme - fighting for what you believe in and never giving up on what or who you love.
Joanna Shaw met her husband Aidan in a 'Maze of Mirrors' attraction at a beach-side carnvial. From word go, his interests in the world, his unique beliefs outside of Joanna's previous "Pleasantivlle" life were a gasping, sweet breath of fresh air for Joanna. When Aidan follows his journalism career to India, Joanna packs up their home and their son Simon and dutifully and happily follows. Settled in New Dehli, Aidan leaves Joanna asleep in their bed to set out on what she has been told is an 'assignment'. In his absence, Joanna goes ahead with her employment in New Delhi - running a Safe House for rescuing child prostitues...one of which becomes elemental in ironically rescuing Joanna. From the minute little Kamla, the girl with the turquoise eyes, rests her sight on "Mrs Shaw" she "claims" her as the physical entity of her freedom. After suffering a savage destruction of her innocence, Kamla runs to the only place she can think of, Joanna's residence. Amidst highly volatile political unrest, Joanna takes Kamla in after learning of her history and decides to deal with the consequences of personally rescuing an Indian orphan later. Just days later, Joanna receives a telegram of Aidan's disappearance after his plane went down in the Karakoram mountain range and Joanna's entire existence gets thrown off course.
So begins this wonderful, wild adventure told with scissor-sharp precision by the glorious writer, Aimee Liu. As it increasingly appears to the reader, the circumstances that Joanna met Aidan in, the maze of mirrors, may have laid the groundwork for what Liu slowly reveals of their smoke and mirror marriage. Accompanied by Lawrence Malcolm, an Australian friend of Aidan's and little Kamla who proves to be a talented translator, Joanna packs up her son Simon and does the only thing she feels sure of - going after Aidan.
This novel explores the strength, the stubborness, the fraility and the invicibility of unconditional love and all of the complicated mess of emotions that are unable to be contained, that don't fit neatly into a clean little box. Liu's language and descriptions left me breathless and shaking my head - walking alongside these beautifully crafted characters was an absolute joy...with the ultimate question of Aidan's location dangling above me like a carrot for the entire journey. Flash House is a convicting satsifying and unpredictable read and overall was a perfectly paced tale of adventure and love, a combination that Aimee Liu has pulled off with great skill and authenticity.
TEN STARS IS THE ONLY APPROPRIATE RATING November 29, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If I could give this novel ten stars, I would because this is everything that a novel should be. The twists and turns in the plot capture your interest and hold you captive yet it is the rich lyrical use of language that truly make the book memorable. This is an author who uses words like magic to weave you into a spell of love and intrigue.
The epilogue of this plot-driven novel is satisfying at all levels and the author does the reader the great service of truly wrapping up the novel to a lovely and believable ending.
The only negative that I would caution about is that on occasion the jump from the novel being told in the voice of Joanna to the voice of Kamla is not a smooth transition. However, it is hard to conceive of any way in which the author could have made the transition less jarring.
In the beginning it is somewhat disappointing that Aidan is not a fully drawn out character that would allow the reader to fully understand why Joanna is so driven in her search for the truth. Yet as the novel progresses, it becomes more clear why the author is so clever in slowly revealing the complexities of this character.
The insights into history and culture whet your appetite to learn more about Asia in the post World War II era. This is a book that will capture the delight of book clubs for the foreseeable future!
 Good spy novels aren't dead; read this one! September 21, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Set against the backdrop of The Game in which the U.K. and the Soviet Union strive to influence India's future, this historical espionage novel is a terrific read. The story is a good one, the writing better than usual and the detail and ambience superb.
Wow! A Wonderful Read! August 20, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I loved this book! I picked it up on impluse, just liked the look of it. I had no idea when I finished it, I would put it down as one of my favorites. Joanna Shaw and the people who make up her family and life are unforgettable.
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