...a real page-turner....
A slice of life novel.... tells
the story of
Nola Sands, an American singer sent as a goodwill ambassador on a concert tour to China. Suddenly her journey becomes anything but routine, when a desperate young Chinese mother thrusts her baby girl into Nola’s arms....This is a real page-turner as the reader becomes involved with Nola’s fight to save the child.
http://www.bookviews.com/
...impressive and thought-provoking...stylish read...
More than the personal relations involved there is also the political question of relation between United States and China. Soon the case becomes one of prestige and huge political overtones between the two countries. And what is lost in the midst is the human element...
China Doll is a five star read….highly, highly recommended.
NewMysteryReader.com
A gripping self-discovery voyage....
In a story of an adoptive parent's unwavering love, Nola's flight across China is a tale not only of human rights abuses running amok in an astonishingly picturesque land: It is the gripping self-discovery voyage of a woman coming into her own.
FreshFiction.com
...deserves extra points...I highly recommend it.
...Nola’s desire to keep the baby sparks an international dilemma, and suddenly, Nola’s world isn’t as safe as she had imagined, and Lulu is in grave danger.
This book deserves extra points for daring to broach a subject few writers do.... China Doll will make you squirm in your seat, wanting to get out and do something. I highly recommend it.
--Ann M. Beardsley,
PRAISE FROM PUBLISHED AUTHORS
A very good novel... vivid....
The contrast between the contemporary realities of the pop music business and the wrenching tragedy of dying, discarded children combines to create a stark, vivid landscape of human cruelty. As in all good novels -- and this is a very good novel -- it is the powerful courage of one person wherein is found a measure of hope. It wasn't even my heart that ached when I read "China Doll" -- it was my arms -- my arms longed to hold every child in its impassioned pages."
--Wendy Reid Crisp, Author, “When I Grow Up I Want To Be 60“ and “From the Back Pew.“
Spicy, worldly, and meticulously researched...exciting....
Spicy, worldly, and meticulously researched, this novel rivets our attention on Nola, a celebrity whose life turns upside down as she attempts to save a baby from the dying rooms in China, and journeys through the intriguing complexities of Chinese-American relations, corporate greed, and pop world machinations. To the author’s credit, the exciting twists and turns of the plot make the pages fly by, but it is the steady voice of human wisdom that guides the character development and enlightens the reader all the way through.
--Susan Anderson, Author, "The Journey from Abandonment to Healing " and "The Black Swan."
...intricate, psychologically-nuanced.... fast and quickening pace...
In China Doll, Talia Carner has crafted an intricate, psychologically-nuanced portrait of a mother's love, the source from which it grows, and the strength that endures. With a fast and quickening pace throughout, the story gathers momentum at each of the many twists and turns. The use of a second narrative thread, essentially the shadow of the first, adds character and interest as well as understanding. This is a book in layers, inviting a reader to discovery.
--Frank Murphy, author, “The Last Protest” and "Silence of Great Distance."
...a page-turning, globe-spanning adventure...
Against both the timeless beauty and cutthroat attitudes that pervade China, author Talia Carner has created a page-turning, globe-spanning adventure. Set in two incompatible worlds—the music industry and China’s orphanages—this is a deftly crafted story of an unwitting pop star driven by a baby to become a formidable heroine.
--Annie Blachley, correspondent, The New York Times and The Sacramento Bee, author of “Good Medicine.”
...a deft page-turner... an absorbing, often chilling...
Talia Carner has written a deft page-turner that spans the globe and nearly every major institution in it, from entertainment to government. CHINA DOLL is an absorbing, often chilling, story of human rights and human hearts.
--Maryanne Stahl, author, “Forgive The Moon” and "The Opposite Shore."
...engrossed, turning pages...accessible but important fiction...
Like Puppet Child, this book had me thoroughly engrossed, turning pages into the wee hours of the night. ...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....
--Susan O'Neill, author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam
