The Interior [Import] [Hardcover]

Lisa See (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Century (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0712679391
• ISBN-13: 978-0712679398
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,972,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am hooked!, January 5, 2008

By 

Philly Lawyer "Philly Lawyer" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Interior: A Red Princess Mystery (Red Princess Mysteries) (Paperback)

I have to admit I have read every one of Lisa See's books. The Inspector Liu/Attorney Stark books are very different from her other books (Peony in Love, Snow Flower & the Secret Fan, On Gold Mountain), but what I love about this author is that each of her book is unique and full of surprises. I came across Dragon Bones first and was hooked! At that time it was very hard to get a copy of The Interior. I ended up paying an outrageous amount to get a used one, and I am delighted --for Writer See and her other fans -- that it's now out in paperback. (I would have saved money if I waited, but I just couldn't wait. LOL.) The Interior is my favorite of the three books in this genre (Dragon Bones & Flower Net being the other two). The characters are complex, the plot sophisticated. These books do not have the literary value of See's other books, but I gave this book a 5 because it's among the best in this genre. I have e-mailed Writer See, asking when she will come out with her next Red Princess mystery. She promised there will be another. I can't wait!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I too am hooked by Lisa See's Red Princess mysteries, February 17, 2008

By 

mtk (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Interior: A Red Princess Mystery (Red Princess Mysteries) (Paperback)

I first read Lisa See's Flower Net and couldn't wait until I read The Interior. Both books are beautifully and complexly plotted with betrayals that one does not see coming but, when they come, seem just right. The complexity of Chinese society, so much that is so positive yet also so much that seems enignmatic and/or corrupt to a Westerner, is conveyed beautifully by having both an American and a Chinese protagonist. The first book dealt with the drug trade (but not a conventional one), the second with entrepreneurial corruption and avarice, as well as with love in a variety of forms. See does not focus just on Beijing but on the countryside, not just on the role of the investigator but also that of the factory worker, not just on those who are prominent in Chinese society but on those who are poor and often exploited, not just on the situation of women but also of men, and, lastly, not just on those who are professionals today but on those who lived during the Cultural Revolution. Both books are long, but I wanted neither to come to an end. Now I look forward to Dragon Bones!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating portrayal of rural China (good story, too!), October 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Interior (Hardcover)

The previous reviewer doesn't seem to have actually read The Interior -- at least not the same book I did. I was struck from the beginning of this book by just how different it is from your average thriller. Just the information about what life is like in rural China was enough to keep me reading -- it seems like See has done a lot of research on the subject (either that or she has a great imagination...) In any case, I felt that she used this very specific local, and lifestyle as a jumping off point for what turned out to be a great story as well. I just love the character of Liu Hulan -- she's new new twist on the detective fiction heroine -- and her relationship with David Stark is one we can all identify with in this global village we live in. How can people from two such different backrounds make a relationship work? This book is much more than a thriller - it's a rich and complex novel.