Alan Wall

I love this cover. In fact, the only reason why I bought this book is the cover. Big fan of blue and white dishes.

However, both the cover and the title of this novel do a great disservice to the book and the author. I think this looks like a "woman's novel," when it's actually anything but. The jacket flap said that one of the characters was the heir to an English pottery company, so I thought somehow crockery would be important to the story. Although there were a few pages about the history of the china industry in Stoke-on-Trent, this novel has almost nothing to do with dishes. And even less to do with a country in Asia with a population of over a billion people.

This is actually a very masculine novel--one I'd compare to Graham Swift. It's also very literary--the type of novel that might have been nominated for the Booker prize (it wasn't, but it's of that sort).

Digby Walton (the pottery heir), is facing old age and all his memories. His rather n'er do well son just wants to play trumpet in jazz clubs. There's also a charming ex-film star and her anarchist son.

What I like: The writing is really wonderful, though often quite dense. The characters were all multidimensional and interesting.

What I didn't like: at almost 400 pages, it was too long. It was a bit too meandering and lacking in cohesion for me. And I really was hoping for more on the pottery.

Recommended for: readers of literary fiction set in jazz clubs.… (meer)