Year of the Smoke Girl [Paperback]

Olivia J. Boler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

On a passage of self-discovery, a young woman tries to determine the nature of identity. Is it her sexuality, her race, or something entirely unknown? Olivia Boler's debut novel, YEAR OF THE SMOKE GIRL, explores these questions in a refreshing coming-of-age story.

Khatia learns at her mother's deathbed that she has a name and heritage she does not yet know. Her father, too broken over his lost love and his sins against her for which he can not atone, is unable to help his daughter. At the same time, he can not keep her or her brother from discovering a secret about their family.

In a story that takes the reader from New England's suburbs to the cosmopolitan cities of Amsterdam and Paris, and finally to San Francisco, Khatia unravels the family secret that will help her find out who she is and who she wants to be.

Gary Snyder describes YEAR OF THE SMOKE GIRL as a "dense weave in the cross-cultural multi-racial world of complex, educated hip contemporary coast-to-coast America...Boler's SMOKE GIRL is a fine first novel, rich in paradox and detail."

OTHER PRAISE FOR SMOKE GIRL:

"A lively and compelling read!" --Sandra Gilbert, author of WRONGFUL DEATH: A MEMOIR

"Quick. Witty. I could not put the book down. Boler has a way of storytelling that everyone should experience." --Phillip Tomasso III, author of MIND PLAY

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Lawyer or slacker? Caucasian or Chinese? Lesbian or heterosexual? Growing up the daughter of a half-Chinese woman who recently died and an American man who opens up to no one, in a household filled with secrets, silence, and obedience, Khatia struggles with identity questions. After graduation and a subsequent dead-end paralegal's job on the East Coast, she takes off for Amsterdam with her lover, Shoshanna. While there, she begins to discover who she really is and who she wants to be. The discoveries lead her to Paris and, ultimately, to her mother's hometown, San Francisco. The second half of the book begins alternating narratives between her and her younger brother, Porter, who eagerly embraces their lost heritage. This is a classic story of buried family secrets. Khatia is an endearing heroine because her flaws and personal foibles will remind us of ourselves. Ellie Barta-Moran
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

The common "struggle for identity" theme is the core of Boler's promising first novel. -- ForeWord Online Magazine, December 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Dry Bones Press (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883938783
• ISBN-13: 978-1883938789
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,812,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A WORK OF EXCEPTIONAL INSIGHT, ARTISTY, AND MASTERY, November 27, 2000

By 

Jack Pantaleo (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Year of the Smoke Girl (Paperback)

Our rites of passage are many. For the fiction writer, it is the debut novel. Some debuts pass by uneventfully, while others attract our attention. Olivia Boler's debut novel not only attracts our attention. It is up in lights. What puts any debut up in lights? When a new artist upstages all the others with a work of exceptional insight, artistry, and mastery. This work is Year of the Smoke Girl. Olivia Boler, a native of San Francisco, takes us on a journey with Khatia Quigley, a young woman who is given a haunting charge by her dying mother. 'Wu Sham,' Khatia's mother says on her deathbed, meaning 'foggy hills' or 'misty hills.' It isn't until later that Khatia learns that the foggy city of San Francisco holds the answer to her true identity. In the mean time, Khatia begins a journey to Europe with her college roommate, turned lover. Boler not only delves into the mysteries and complexity of sexuality with her main character, she illustrates the frightening extremes of racial prejudice. Khatia's mother is Chinese, and her father is Caucasian. In Year of the Smoke Girl, bi-racial Khatia, one spitfire, funny young woman, not only 'comes of age,' she comes of 'sexuality' and comes of 'race.' It takes a writer of Olivia Boler's exceptional skill to bring all these elements together, especially without fanfare but as a natural by-product of the story itself. And perhaps this is Boler's greatest gift: she is a storyteller, a storyteller who is able to imbue not only insight but also humor into her story. For Khatia, life is too serious to take seriously. The narrative voice, like the main character, is fully humorous, fully ironic, at times biting, but always witty. At one point, Khatia says, 'Making love to a woman was like shaving without soap... Sexy. Dangerous. Mildly painful.' Who wouldn't describe their 'first' similarly? But who would be able to say it with such repartee? Porter, Khatia's brother, describes Khatia this way: '...We'll, she's never really been with us to begin with. When she's being quiet, she gets a look on her face, it's like a cross between a nun and a serial killer.' Boler's insight comes through especially in her main character's encounter with an old man she meets on a park bench in Amsterdam. The old man has a 'large, cartilaginous nose and lots of spidery gray hair growing out of the edges of his spotted, red ears.' The old man speaks English and offers Khatia a compliment. This was not a good way to start a conversation for her. She did not like compliments. 'Never believe them for a minute,' she says to herself. Then the old man asks her about her goals. That's when Khatia really panics. What are goals? 'Points scored? ...I guess my goal is to find a goal,' she finally says. The old man is delighted. 'That is excellent!' he responds, 'Yes, that is exactly what you must do. Take a step each day at a time, and enjoy each step as you take it, no matter how hard it may seem.... [Life] only gets complicated to make it interesting.' Khatia takes the old man's words to heart as she pursues her journey through Europe, back to America, and eventually to San Francisco where the mystery of 'Wu Sham' is finally solved. Olivia Boler's main character effectively and skillfully covers a wide range of rites of passage in her debut novel. But it is this debut novel itself that we as the grateful reader get to celebrate. Boler is a strong, new voice in the literary world. Year of the Smoke Girl is vibrant and vivid story-telling. It is up in lights.

5.0 out of 5 stars Smoking Her Out, January 20, 2001

By 

Cherise Wyneken, Author of "Seeded Puffs... (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year of the Smoke Girl (Paperback)

The following quote from the first chapter of Olivia Boler's, "Year of the Smoke Girl," tells it all. "The stars opposed her: they belonged exactly where they were. She could not say the same for herself." Khatia Quigley, the heroine, comes alive in this story of self-discovery involving her sexuality, her mixed heritage, and the mysterious, unresolved familial problems which contribute to her lack of self- understanding. The work is enhanced by beautiful prose and rich depictions of the geographic areas her journey takes her through -- from the northeast in the U.S. to Amsterdam, Paris, and finally to San Francisco where she finds resolution. A great read!

5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid Imagery/Compelling Story, October 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Year of the Smoke Girl (Paperback)

I just finished Year of the Smoke Girl and I am still savoring the intense pictures it created in my mind. It was a great read and I'm feeling the sadness that comes at the end of reading a really good novel. I look forward to reading more from this talented young author.