Red Oblivion, Leslie Shimotakahara
Red Oblivion, Leslie Shimotakahara
32 Rating(s)
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
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Red Oblivion

Author: Leslie Shimotakahara

Narrator: Janet Song

Unabridged: 9 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/03/2019

Synopsis

When Jill Lau receives an early morning phone call that her elderly father has fallen gravely ill, she and her sister, Celeste, catch the first flight from Toronto to Hong Kong. The man they find languishing in the hospital is a barely recognizable shadow of his old indomitable self. According to his housekeeper, a couple of mysterious photographs arrived anonymously in the mail in the days before his collapse. These pictures are only the first link in a chain of events that begin to reveal the truth about their father’s past and how he managed to escape from Guangzhou, China, during the Cultural Revolution to make a new life for himself in Hong Kong. Someone from the old days has returned to haunt him—exposing the terrible things he did to survive and flee one of the most violent periods of Chinese history, reinvent himself, and make the family fortune. Can Jill piece together the story of her family’s past without sacrificing her father's love and reputation?

About Leslie Shimotakahara

Leslie Shimotakahara holds a Ph.D. in English from Brown University. Her memoir The Reading List won the Canada-Japan Literary Award in 2012, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the K.M. Hunter Artist Award. She currently resides in Toronto.

About Janet Song

Janet Song is an award-winning audiobook narrator. The recipient of multiple Earphones Awards, she was named one of Audiofile’s Best Voices of 2008 for her narration of Haruki Murakami's After Dark and John Burnham Schwartz's The Commoner. She lives and works in Los Angeles as an actor on stage and screen and has appeared in The Bling Ring, Palo Alto, The Fosters, and Shameless.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bkwmlee on November 21, 2019

Those who’ve read my past reviews will undoubtedly have heard me mention the affinity I have for my birthplace of Hong Kong, despite being physically so far removed, living thousands of miles away here in Los Angeles. Having grown up immersed in 2 very different cultures, I’ve always felt as though......more

Goodreads review by Alex on October 21, 2020

The book was interesting but not as much as I hoped. I felt it was just skimming certain things (the family relationship, the immigration, the chinese culture) without really diving into it. I wouldn't necessarily recommend although I did enjoy it.......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on May 26, 2022

This fascinating audiobook is available on Hoopla, if you feel like listening to it. Just check in with your library card. (I neither work for hoopla, nor do I get any money or anything like benefits from recommending it. I just really like the services this app offers). Janet Song is the wonderful n......more

Goodreads review by Justine on June 04, 2023

I really enjoyed this book especially because of the author's Asian-Canadian background. The main character mentions attending Markham District so that was a fun detail. Felt like I got to learn a bit about China's history and society. weird to think that this experience could have been similar to l......more

Goodreads review by Meredith on October 12, 2019

Unfortunately, this was not one of my favorite books of the year. A major part of the fault is mine. Netgalley had this categorized both as general adult fiction and mystery/thriller. This book has mystery elements, but is not a traditional mystery; the answers to Jill’s questions will be obvious to......more

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