Between Two Shores

The novel opens in California and travels to China. When Victor Lin, a Chinese-American man, dies under unclear circumstances during a visit to Thousand Island Lake, south of Hangzhou, his wife Anne Gavin, an Irish-American, makes the journey to China determined to learn what truly happened. Her inquiry leads her to David Han, a scholar from Hong Kong whose own sister was lost in what was officially called an accident at the same lake. The two join forces, and a gentle romantic thread runs alongside the investigation.

Beyond the mystery, the book follows the divided sensibility of a Chinese person caught between native traditions and Western culture. David Han's inner struggle and the identity crisis that shadows his search take center stage. Corruption, obsession and the longing for closure form the story's core concerns.

The author looks past the familiar idea of supposedly typical Chinese traits to examine the fears, ambitions, frustrations and convictions that lie beneath everyday behavior, offering a portrait of the people behind a public face.