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River of Dust: A Novel, by Virginia Pye
Free PDF River of Dust: A Novel, by Virginia Pye
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On the windswept plains of northwestern China, Mongol bandits swoop down upon an American missionary couple and steal their small child. The Reverend sets out in search of the boy and becomes lost in the rugged, corrupt countryside populated by opium dens, sly nomadic warlords and traveling circuses. This upright Midwestern minister develops a following among the Chinese peasants and is christened Ghost Man for what they perceive are his otherworldly powers. Grace, his young ingénue wife, pregnant with their second child, takes to her sick bed in the mission compound, where visions of her stolen child and lost husband begin to beckon to her from across the plains. The foreign couple’s savvy and dedicated Chinese servants, Ahcho and Mai Lin, accompany and eventually lead them through dangerous territory to find one another again. With their Christian beliefs sorely tested, their concept of fate expanded, and their physical health rapidly deteriorating, the Reverend and Grace may finally discover an understanding between them that is greater than the vast distance they have come.
- Sales Rank: #794466 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-05-14
- Released on: 2013-05-14
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, Pye, the granddaughter of missionaries, addresses the near-unrelenting tragedy of missionary work in China after the Boxer Rebellion. Mongolian nomads steal the child of a minister and his pregnant wife Grace, sending the Reverend in search of his son. Along the way he loses his health, faith in God, and reputation. Grace stays behind to grapple with her loneliness, a nervous condition, bloody coughing, the threat of a miscarriage, near death in childbirth, and hunger created by famine. Pye has the imagination to put the elements in play, but it proves too much to juggle. Grace doesn't fret much about her kidnapped son—as supposedly worrying exacerbates her nervous condition—though she regularly frets about her husband. Early on, Pye shows us the Reverend reflecting on his faith, demonstrating a profound level of insight into such matters, yet the process of how he feels in losing that faith isn't revealed. All the same, when Grace shows us her unabiding love for the Reverend we see the author's ability to pull beauty from this cacophony of tragedy. Pye's prose is speckled with moments of beauty, but the glaring gaps in the narrative make it an inconsistent read. (May)
Review
“A vividly imagined and beautifully drawn picture of the life of Christian missionaries in China in the early 20th century.” --- Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China; co-author, Mao: the Unknown Story
“Virginia Pye’s River of Dust is a remarkable novel in the ways that delight me the most: It has a compelling narrative voice, a dynamic story and a deep resonance into the universal human condition, all of which is inextricably bound together. This is a major work by a splendid writer.”–Robert Olen Butler
"Terrific, tremendous, wonderful...a strong, beautiful, deep book." –Annie Dillard
"Drawing on the historical journals of her grandfather, author Virginia Pye has created something that is rather unique these days: a totally original story line. Her debut novel tells the story of Reverend Wesley Watson and his wife Grace as they confront the bleak landscape of northwestern China shortly after the Boxer Rebellion. Intending to bring the word of God to the Chinese, they are immediately sidetracked by the kidnapping of their young son. What follows is the heart-wrenching tale of the search for their son, ultimately leading to the Reverend's downfall and Grace's debilitating illness. Pye's sharp, haunting descriptions of drought, famine, desert travel, and opium dens will immerse readers in this world. RIVER OF DUST is a must-read for fans of quality historical fiction."—Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault
“The entire novel ultimately becomes an analogy for grief over a lost child, and China is simply the treacherous, foreign landscape on which it is laid. In the end, the sense of adventure beckons the characters more than the sense of loss buries them. Pye's hand manages to paint a rather naked response to what it means to move forward with only a sort of faithless hope.”—Style Weekly
“Read River of Dust for a view of 1910 China that will inform, entertain, and enlighten you. Savor it for Pye’s ability to show the changes in her characters through their actions and for the way she makes Acho and Mai Lin delightfully real and complex. Choose it for your book club to discuss the influence of the culture of the time and the nature of circumstances that can alter beliefs and faith.”—Hungry for Good Books
“Virginia Pye has a stand-out voice for creating fantastic imagery….River of Dust peeks into a corner of the past rarely examined by historical fiction, which is a refreshing change. Even beyond a new setting are the bigger questions raised by the world Pye introduces readers to; imperialism, evangelism and faith swirl around the novel from front to back without leaving the story feeling like it has a religious agenda….Based on the journals penned by her grandfather while serving a similar mission in China, Virginia Pye has written a novel blending a rich, historic setting with an engaging story that explores the limits of faith.”—River City Reading
About the Author
No Bio
CAROLINE SHAFFER, a San Francisco native, studied theatre at the Weber Douglas Academy in London and holds an M.F.A. from the American Conservatory Theatre. She has worked in theatres across the country, and has spent the past 12 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, where she now lives with her husband and 4 children. In addition to theatre, Caroline has worked in the TV, film and commercial markets, doing radio and TV voiceovers, radio ads, and cartoon voices.
Most helpful customer reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Haunting, impressive debut!
By Patty Smith
Haunting and richly imagined, RIVER OF DUST is an impressive debut by Virginia Pye. The gripping tale of Grace Watson and her husband --the Reverend as she refers to him, or "The Ghost Man," as the Chinese of the Shansi Province call him-- the story opens with the kidnapping of the couple's young son, Wesley, by a pair of Mongolian nomads and unfolds with the ensuing efforts to find him. But perhaps even more important than the tale of what happens to Wesley is what happens to Grace and the Reverend as a result -- to their ideas of what it means to be Christian missionaries, what it means to be a married couple and parents, what it means to be a Westerner in northwest China at the turn of the 20th century. The land is as much a character as any of the humans trying to tame it -- and in the battle of wills with its foreign occupants, does its best to break their spirits and emerge victorious.
Recounted by an omniscient narrator, this sweeping story favors neither the white missionaries nor the Chinese but instead allows the reader to fully experience the humanity of all its characters. Tension builds as the days go by and Wesley remains missing, Grace's pregnancy advances and her health grows more precarious, and the Reverend becomes increasingly preoccupied with finding his son. It's a book I find myself thinking about long after I have put it down.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Dust to Dust
By Clifford Garstang
Although I have frequently traveled to China and have read both fiction and nonfiction about the country, I was not familiar with the period described in this novel. It is set in 1910, just before the end of the Imperial era and shortly after the Boxer Rebellion. I found the setting in time and place fascinating, and the characters of the Reverend and his wife, Grace, are both satisfyingly complex--virtuous people who are deeply flawed. The novel, it seems to me, gives an accurate portrayal of the Western approach to China even now, tainted with ignorance and arrogance.
It's a wonderful novel that I would recommend to anyone.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
kudos for River of Dust
By oliver
I was absolutely transported by River of Dust, throughout the entire book. I have never been to China, but felt like I was actually there, on those godforsaken plains, where events take place that change a couple's life forever. The main character of the missionary was so intricately drawn that what might, in a lesser author's hands, have been a difficult personality to bring to life, through Pye's imagination becomes a complex, three-dimensional man, riven with doubts and fears about his past, but strong, powerful and compelled to action. His wife, burdened by circumstances, also transcends stereotyping (the good missionary's wife) by her complicated psyche and physical state that both stymy her and ultimately send her off on a mission perhaps larger in scope than her husband's. Without giving anything away, these characters broke my heart and also widened it as I experienced their travails right alongside them as they struggled along, searching for their child and coming to terms with their pasts. Kudos to the author for giving us so many colorful and also at times heart-rending experiences within one book!
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