Review by C. RosenbergA tantalizing blend of Chinese Canadian flavors is the best description of Kelly Li’s world in Anne Azel’s, “Gold Mountain.” Azel writes from the heart, and her soul pours out, eloquently and intimately, onto each page. Reading about other cultures is like taking a vacation without the need to leave home. Azel, a gifted author, clearly understands the intricacies of traditional Chinese values and employs that depth of comprehension to enrich this adventure for her readers. Equally as compelling as Kelly’s Chinese world is that of Jane Anderson’s Caucasian background. Azel depicts both cultures so accurately that it doesn’t matter what nationality, religion, or orientation the reader relates to because differences and similarities between and among varying ethnic traditions become transparent. Kelly and Jane are at opposite ends of the spectrum, but as their story unfolds, it appears that Yin and Yang converge to become one.
In the 1800s, many Chinese people referred to the New World as Golden Mountain. Their goal was to gain passage, line their pockets with gold, and wealthy and proud, go back to China. Rather than returning to their homeland, some stayed, but the government made it virtually impossible for them to bring their families from China to join them. In the early 1900s, at the height of the head count, Jimmy Li came and was relentless in building his Golden Mountain as he bought up red brick buildings. All he lacked was a son to inherit his fortune. In 1955, Jimmy Li adopted a son, Jason, whom he revered, but he treated Kelly and her half sister, Sarah, as non-entities.
Kelly is keenly aware that she’s different. During her teenage years, she remains in the closet. She doesn’t date and has no life away from home, but she studies hard every free moment. Kelly works in the back of her father’s Chinese take-out until she finds her way out of the kitchen and into law school. Smart and accomplished, she becomes a successful defense attorney. One day in court, she meets Officer Jane Anderson who is a witness for the opposition on Kelly’s case. Their paths cross more than once, and mutual attraction takes over where fate left off. It seems a match made in heaven—until Jason Li’s murder.
Officer Anderson is called to the scene, and their growing affection hits a road block. As Kelly’s life falls apart, she laments, “Because I couldn’t face my own shame, I had hid the truth at all costs. The costs had been very high: my sister’s sanity, my father’s death, my aunt’s hate, my lover’s scorn, and now my fall. The Golden Mountain that my father had so carefully built was no more than ice eaten away by the salt tears of secrets and lies.” (p. 81).
This is but one of many passages penned as beautifully; Azel says more in three sentences than many authors say in three pages.
Jane, a widow with a young daughter, disappointed her family when she went into law enforcement rather than a more acceptable position as a nurse or other traditional female profession. She redeemed herself when she married Chris and had a child, but his untimely death left her free to follow her heart. What would her family think if they knew that she was a lesbian . . . and that her late husband knew the truth about her? What if she falls in love with the woman of her dreams, but secrets and lies tear them apart?
”Gold Mountain” proves that Azel has what it takes to raise the bar in lesbian fiction. Ms. Azel mixes drama, romance, mystery, and the timely topics that lesbians face in our society: bigotry, religious injustice, and the imperative that all countries, not just Canada, legalize gay marriage. She tells the story in a most convincing and satisfying way, while staying true to two cultures. I applaud her efforts.
Azel is improving her craft by developing her own style and distinctive voice. If you long for originality in theme, characterization, and plot, then “Gold Mountain” is for you. Azel tells an important, timely, and intriguing story, which entertains even while encouraging the reader to think and explore new ideas and issues. “Gold Mountain” is a five plus star read.
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Review by Lynne Sage
Asian culture gave birth to a concept called minimalism. The idea is to create a picture or image by providing as little information as possible and then letting the viewer or reader’s imagination fill in the gaps; thereby creating a more complete picture than was actually presented. Perhaps this is what Anne Azel was trying to do when she wrote Gold Mountain. It presents challenges for people who are not used to that type of reading.
Kelly Li is a second generation Chinese woman living in Canada. As the second daughter in the family, she was a special disappointment to her father who wanted to have a son more than anything, so Kelly has had to struggle on her own to succeed in the Gold Mountain, the name given by the Chinese to the Americas in the 1800s. Despite the rejection of most of her family, she has created a life as a successful attorney, only to have that threatened by family duty, something that Kelly cannot escape, when she is drawn into a murder that has its roots in the twisted dynamics between her relatives. Her obligations to her family also threaten to destroy a budding relationship with Jane Anderson, a policewoman who is struggling to come to grips with her own sexual orientation. Jane is attempting to deal with honesty on different levels. She is trying to live her life as she truly feels she should after a period of living with deception. She also finds herself in the position of being a law enforcement official drawn to someone who at best is lying to her and at worst may be a murderer. She has to weigh her own feelings against what is best for her young daughter. Gold Mountain is the story of both of these women as they struggle to align family obligations with the lives they would like to live and try to mesh those lives so that they can be together.
Gold Mountain has great potential to demonstrate the differences between cultures and it does give some insight into that, but the style that Azel chooses to use keeps the story from fully developing. The characters don’t seem complete. Azel tells the story by having alternating chapters expressing each character’s point of view, but there is no blending of those views; nowhere to say here is A and B and how they fit together. If the reader likes a story where all of the plot points are told and explained, then there may be difficulties with reading this book. There is a good story in what is written, but it requires work on the part of the reader to pull it out. For people who just want to enjoy reading a book, this may not be the one for them. Anne Azel has experimented with a different style. Whether or not she has been successful is left up to the reader.
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