River of Dust: A Novel - Tapa dura

"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

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 ingenue 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.