Book club discusses "Paper Butterfly"

Another international setting was the target for the book club this month as the novel Paper Butterfly is set in Beijing. The second in a series of mysteries by Diane Wei Liang, the book features Mei Wang as a private investigator in modern day China.

In this googled photo of author Liang, you have the same picture as shown in the book jacket of Paper Butterfly.

Wang, formerly with the Ministry of Public Security (the police), works independently as a detective with all with the trappings of a successful businesswoman including the employment of a male secretary.

She is beginning a new case to search for an up and coming pop singer, Kaili, who has recently disappeared for several days and a record company executive, who summons Mei, concludes that Kaili is actually missing. Meanwhile, Mei's reliable assistant Gupin also appears to have oddly disappeared and she starts to wonder about him.

Paper Butterfly is divided (for a period) between Mei's investigation of the mysterious Kaili and a poor laborer, Lin, who is en routine to Beijing to meet a special person in his life which does have an impact on Mei's work.

The book club attendees had the following observations:

• the novel didn't give enough atmosphere or information about China culture's today for most
• the question of money popped up when it was asked how Mei supported herself to the extent that she did or being successful in her business
• Mei's personality was questioned too as it seemed aside from work and immediate family, she had no interests although it was noted she is finicky about her tea
• despite working in a location (Beijing) not traditionally used for mystery novels, I liked that Mei is very similar to other fictional detectives in her makeup as [for instance] being determined to close cases and as another mentioned, she has a resourceful network of associates and contacts for her work
• the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 was featured in the book as an important time in history for Mei and Lin and the same is likewise for the author but one attendee thought the book became close to a rant from the author about the protests
• one attendee said Mei's foot travels through Beijing seemed dangerous (or unlikely?) while another said the situation there is likely very different from the U.S. [and to add a related perspective, I mentioned that the author has a short video on her author web page of an actress (?) representing Mei who walks around various neighborhoods, etc., on her own]
• one book club regular wrote and shared with me as an email, "I enjoyed 'Paper Butterfly' and would like to read more books by this author. At first, I was a little confused and thrown off stride by the alternating of chapters between Mei and Lin. Then I got used to it, and at that moment, they came together. The weaving of the story with the events in Tiananmen Square, and the reality of the oppression, with Lin's imprisonment, set the background..[spoiler material omitted]..I kind of wanted Lin to come out all right, but that would have been too easy."
• still another person said this book was her least favorite of the books she had read in the book club (in two years).

Has anyone else read Paper Butterfly or the first Mei Wang mystery The Eye of Jade? What did you think?

Remember that book we (the book club) read about--

Do you remember when? Well, sometimes you just don't and that's why I'm writing about a growingly frequent situation in our book club sessions.

The question comes up about a book read earlier--a month ago, several months ago or even years ago now (think of how long you have been meeting as a book club)--and you have a pregnant pause trying to remember the book.

That happened last time when as we discussed our new book set in Beijing , China this month and one attendee mentioned another book set in China we had read. I could not remember the title--nor anyone else for that matter--but I did finally remember the author's name, Peter May, and mentioned it.

Checking later, I found that the book we read was The Firemaker by May and it was the first of his "China thriller" series (he has another series too). The book club read that book back in October 2007.

I'm guessing for the future I ought to keep with me a copy of the book list of the book club going forward during the book club sessions. I suppose it would give us at least a fightin' chance when remembering book titles...