Habit of a Foreign Sky: A Novel [Paperback]

Xu Xi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2010

Somewhere between Hong Kong and New York, life does an abrupt shift for Gail Szeto, when her mother, her last family member, is killed in an accident. For Gail, a mixed-race, single mother who had buried her young son less than two years prior, all she has left is a hard-won career at a global investment bank. Life rapidly goes into free fall for this woman with a complicated past, who was once so sure of her direction in life, who can now see no clear future path. Shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, this novel offers a an international cast of characters in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Prolific Asian author Xi profiles a mixed-race Hong Kong resident who has a high-profile career at a global investment bank that sees her traveling frequently between Hong Kong and New York and now Shanghai, locus of the emerging Chinese markets. Tough-minded Gail has an MBA from Harvard, but she has been hit hard when, within a few years, her husband leaves, their young son dies, and her mother, with whom she had a complicated relationship, passes away. She is shocked to learn that her mother, a dance-hall girl and sometimes prostitute, has left her millions, and Gail’s serious demeanor begins to give way in the face of her emotional stress and newfound freedom. Her mother’s death brings her closer to her American half-brother and plunges her back into her childhood world spent in the company of her mother’s many lively dance-hall friends. It also frees her up to initiate an intimate relationship with a struggling French businessman. This cosmopolitan novel, a finalist for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize, dramatizes one woman’s struggle to finally acknowledge and act on her own complicated desires. --Joanne Wilkinson

Review

"Gail is a satisfyingly contradictory creation, trying to do the right thing and frequently failing, and not in ways that the story can offer convenient excuses." --South China Morning Post: Oct 3, 2010 by Richard Lord

"Gail Szeto is a character who will become, as Becky Sharp became for Regency England, a symbol of a whole Hong Kong generation." --Asian Review of Books: Nov 13, 2010 by Nigel Collett

"This smart, eloquent, cosmopolitan novel . . . is a scintillating accomplishment." --Don Lee, author

"At the center of the novel is a riveting character . . . recognizable, daunting and beautifully drawn." --Rosellen Brown, novelist

"Xu Xi has a kaleidoscopic gaze and turns this to dazzling effect on each of the characters she explores."  --Jill Dawson, novelist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Haven Books (October 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 988189672X
• ISBN-13: 978-9881896728
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write where I live which is the flight path connecting New York, Hong Kong and the South Island of New Zealand. Right now the main nest is a rooftop squat in Hong Kong, my birth city, which is also where my mother at 90 ages gracefully, despite her Alzheimer's, beneath me. I have no offspring to ensure such grace so instead I write, and trust that my books will be the children who will go forth and find me readers to provide solace as I age. Most of my work is fiction -- the novel remains my favorite genre -- although of late the essay is a primary preoccupation. You can meditate, despair and gnash your teeth in an essay the way you can't quite in fiction. Mostly I write about contemporary trans-national life, because I have long felt (and lived) beyond race, nationality, culture, city, country. I liken my life to that of the cuckoo, settling here, there and just about anywhere I can find a temporary angle of repose until the next dream state moves me -- asleep or awake how can we limit where and when we dream? The music that haunts my dreams is jazz. Find me on Facebook or at my website www.xuxiwriter.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great novel with a rich cast of characters that spans continents, December 29, 2010

By 

Sybil Baker "Author of Talismans (C&R Press)... (Chattanooga TN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Habit of a Foreign Sky: A Novel (Paperback)

Xu Xi's novel spans continents to create a vibrant world of international characters with professional and personal concerns. Xu Xi's characters are complex and compelling--the main character Gail Szeto is caught between Hong Kong and New York just as she is in her personal and professional life. There are no easy answers or quick solutions, instead Gail must make decisions that will help her become connected to a world that she has been cut off from. I recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys global fiction and characters who are smart but flawed and always interesting.

5.0 out of 5 stars Xu Xi Soars With "Habit Of A Foreign Sky", April 8, 2011

By 

C. A. Webb "Conversations Book Club" (Jackson, MS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Habit of a Foreign Sky: A Novel (Paperback)

When you come from humble beginnings and a past you want to forget, there is nothing that drives you more than success. This is something that I have found and so does Gail Szeto of author Xu Xi's novel HABIT OF A FOREIGN SKY. She has escaped the life that seemed to hold her back and found her calling in business, but when tragedies hit her literally from coast to coast, she is faced with the realness of not what she has become but who she really is inside.

Written in a way that people around the world can understand and appreciate, HABIT showcases the importance of being true to yourself and not allowing your past or even current circumstances to keep you from finding time to love life and all that comes with it.

A real triumph not only as an enjoyable read but as a reminder of the preciousness of life. HABIT OF A FOREIGN SKY is definitely one to add to your reading list.