China Doll (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: die unloved, flower babies, snuff bottle, New York, Kong Ruiji, Dying Rooms (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Against both the timeless beauty and cutthroat attitudes that pervade China, Carner has created a page-turning, globe-spanning adventure." -- Annie Blachley, Correspondent, The Los Angeles Times,

"Against both the timeless beauty and cutthroat attitudes that pervade China, Carner has created a page-turning, globe-spanning adventure." --Annie Blachley, Correspondent, The Los Angeles Times,

"My arm longing to hold every child in China Doll's impassioned pages." -- Wendy Reid Crisp, Author, “I Want To Be 60” and “From the Back Pew.”

"My arm longing to hold every child in China Doll's impassioned pages." --Wendy Reid Crisp, Author, “I Want To Be 60” and “From the Back Pew.”

"Spicy and worldly, a journey through the intrigues of Chinese-American relations, corporate greed, and pop world machinations." -- Susan Anderson, Author, "From Abandonment to Healing" and “Black Swan.”

"Spicy and worldly, a journey through the intrigues of Chinese-American relations, corporate greed, and pop world machinations." --Susan Anderson, Author, "From Abandonment to Healing" and “Black Swan.”

Product Description

A riveting journey to save one life

In a tale of passion and rescue, an abandoned Chinese infant drives an unwitting pop star to become a formidable heroine.

An explosive story of the inner workings of the music industry, of the state of Chinese orphanages, and of US-Sino relationship as they clash with the fate of a baby and the determination of a woman caught in international intrigue and corporate power games. Set against the kaleidoscopic sights, sounds and smells of China's main cities and countryside, the adoptive mother struggles against the unthinkable personal sacrifices of individuals as the Chinese nation forfeits its glorious past and art in order to feed its people and move forward.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Windsprint Press; 1 edition (September 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977382125
• ISBN-13: 978-0977382125
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #688,066 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Painstaking research; painful message, September 15, 2006

By	Susan O'Neill (Andover, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With China Doll, Talia Carner, late of Puppet Child, is once again advocating for children--this time, on a global stage. Literally. Her heroine Nola, a singer at the peak of her game, is sweeping through major Chinese cities on a goodwill tour with full entourage and spare-no-expense staging, when a shadowy figure thrusts a baby girl into her arms. Nola struggles to keep the child, battling the ghosts of her past and the very real and powerful spectres of her management and global politics.

Like Puppet Child, this book had me thoroughly engrossed, turning pages into the wee hours of the night. Also, like Puppet Child, it opened a door into the institutionalized mistreatment of children--this time, in Chinese "dying rooms," where drugged orphans languish until they are no longer in need of the scant care on offer.

Carner has done her homework here. Her research shapes and enhances the story, but her passion for justice brings it alive. This is accessible but important fiction that highlights both the simple ethics governing the life and death of children, and the political dance between China and the US that makes solutions to an archaic system of neglect so tragically, heartbreakingly complicated.

In both her novels, Talia Carner speaks for the children. Let us hope that someone of influence is listening.

Susan O'Neill, author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly Close to Real, July 13, 2008

By	Kay Bratt - See all my reviews

I worked in a Chinese orphanage for over four years and can tell you that reading this story put me back in the middle of all the emotions and outrage I dealt with on a daily basis. Many people think that negative stories about orphanages shouldn't be written, that they can't be that bad---but the truth is that some of them are that bad. The more that people open their eyes at what is really happening, the better chance at improving conditions we will have. Awareness is the key.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mother's love doesn't consider hardships or even blood type, January 31, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Kelley Anderson for Reader Views (1/07)

"China Doll" is the story of Nola Sands, a rock star on a goodwill tour in China. After one of Nola's appearances, a woman presses a baby girl into her arms and disappears. Nola instantly falls in love with the baby and is bent on keeping the girl with her at all costs. Everyone seems to be determined to separate them; her husband/agent, the owner of the record company and even the Chinese government. She discovers who her true friends are in the process. Nola commits herself to being the spokesperson for all of the unwanted baby girls in China and finds that a mother's love is not just about taking care of a child. Nola's love for this baby girl shows her that the mother who left her this baby loved her baby enough to want that baby to have a life beyond the orphanage or the grave.

This beautiful story brings you an outsider's look at China's class system, where a one child per family law still exists and baby girls are abandoned or killed so that the coveted boy can stay with the family. It seems at first to be a lighthearted book about one rock star's desire to keep this baby that was never hers. As you read farther into the book, you discover that not only is the rock star not selfishly wanting the baby as a possession, but events in her early family life are driving her to protect this girl from the horrible things the world does to orphaned children. The strength of Nola's will and the horrible picture of the abandoned babies of China touch you in some deep down place and make you want to rescue those babies yourself.

I recommend this book for all mothers and for anyone who wants to be a mother. It is a fast easy read and the beauty of China and the sorrow of its citizens impressed me. "China Doll" will open your eyes and make you want to learn more about its culture.

"China Doll" is an alluring book, fast-paced with twist and turns. Some of the twists you see coming and some catch you by surprise. I enjoyed following the journey of the baby's life from the time she was thrust into Nola's arms to the conclusion of the story.