Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates


Book Description

For millennia, the land now called Turkey has been at the crossroads of history. A bridge between Europe and Asia, between West and East, between Christianity and Islam, the peninsula also known as Anatolia, the place where the sun rises, is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions on the planet. In this unique blend of memoir and travel literature, Üstün Bilgen-Reinart explores the people, politics, and passions of her native country, whisking the reader on a journey through time, memory, and space. She searches deep into the roots of her own ancestry and uncovers a family secret, breaks taboos in a nation that still takes tradition very seriously, and navigates through dangerous territory that sees her investigating brothels in Ankara, probing honour murders in Sanliurfa, encountering Kurds in the remote southeast, and witnessing the rape of the earth by a gold mining company in Bergama.




The Porcelain Moon


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, Pauline Deng runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working in the French countryside as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps. In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage and seeking to end a love affair that can no longer continue. Camille offers Pauline a room in her house, and the two women become friends. But before long, Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives. Set against the little-known history of the 140,000 Chinese workers who were brought to Europe as non-combatant labour during WWI, The Porcelain Moon is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging, and what we are willing to risk for freedom.







The Library of Legends


Book Description

“The Library of Legends is a gorgeous, poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1937 – only to discover that danger stalks them from within. Janie Chang pens pure enchantment!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Huntress From the author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel—the third in a loosely-connected trilogy—in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan. “Myths are the darkest and brightest incarnations of who we are…” China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China’s western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends. Her family’s past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students’ common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow, Lian makes her way to Shanghai, hoping to reunite with her mother. On the journey, Lian learns of the connection between her two companions and a tale from the Library of Legends, The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning Shao and Sparrow’s true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there are broader consequences too, for as the ancient books travel across China, they awaken immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own, one that changes the country’s fate forever. Based on true events, rich in Chinese history and lore, The Library of Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China’s recent past and an evocative tale of love, sacrifice, and the extraordinary power of storytelling.




Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates


Book Description

st n Bilgen-Reinart explores the people, politics, and passions of her native country in this unique blend of memoir and travel literature.




A Moon's Mystic Journey


Book Description

She’s on the run for her life. All she wanted to do was prove her high school bullies wrong by becoming a famous pop star. She buried the past and looked to the future. Little did she know the past would come back to haunt her. Dark Moonwish is a young woman with a lot on her plate. She lives in a Conformist Kingdom and is heavily criticized and harassed for her unique culture and beliefs. She has to help her only lifelong friend on her journey of self-discovery. She is trying to accomplish her aspirations of becoming a pop star. She is trying to avoid being captured because she’s wanted for murder. Will this young woman overcome her obstacles and accomplish her goals? We’ll see on this magical journey full of laughter, discovery, and struggles. In a dark, lonely world, the only guidance that she has is the moon’s light.




Korea Focus - June 2014


Book Description

Korea Focus is a monthly webzine accessible at (www.koreafocus.or.kr), which includes editorials, columns, features, interviews, and essays on Korean current affairs and related international issues. Since its inception in 1993, the journal has served as a foremost source of objective information on Korea, contributing to a broader understanding of Korean society and promoting Korean Studies among academic institutions and policy think tanks abroad. The articles are selected from leading Korean newspapers, news magazines, and academic journals. * In addition to the webzine, the content of Korea Focus is available via e-book service for mobile devices. Those who are interested in subscription may register their email address at the website.




Ceramics and Modernity in Japan


Book Description

Ceramics and Modernity in Japan offers a set of critical perspectives on the creation, patronage, circulation, and preservation of ceramics during Japan’s most dramatic period of modernization, the 1860s to 1960s. As in other parts of the world, ceramics in modern Japan developed along the three ontological trajectories of art, craft, and design. Yet, it is widely believed that no other modern nation was engaged with ceramics as much as Japan—a "potter’s paradise"—in terms of creation, exhibition, and discourse. This book explores how Japanese ceramics came to achieve such a status and why they were such significant forms of cultural production. Its medium-specific focus encourages examination of issues regarding materials and practices unique to ceramics, including their distinct role throughout Japanese cultural history. Going beyond descriptive historical treatments of ceramics as the products of individuals or particular styles, the closely intertwined chapters also probe the relationship between ceramics and modernity, including the ways in which ceramics in Japan were related to their counterparts in Asia and Europe. Featuring contributions by leading international specialists, this book will be useful to students and scholars of art history, design, and Japanese studies.




The Dundurn Group


Book Description




Harmony & Contrast


Book Description

Harmony and Contrast provides a cross-cultural perspective on the art of Japan, China and Korea, focusing on the use of materials in art.