The Jasmine Trade - Softcover

Hamilton, Denise

3.6

469 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752863932 ISBN 13: 9780752863931

Publisher: Orion, 2004

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Seventeen-year-old Marina Lu lies dead in her shiny status car in a suburban shopping centre car park, her two-carat diamond engagement ring refracting another shattered Los Angeles dream. Was her murder merely a carjacking gone bad, or is there more to the story? LA TIMES reporter Eve Diamond is determined to find out.

Why was Marina, at such a young age, marrying twenty-four-year-old Michael Ho? Why is her father so reluctant to provide Eve with information about his daughter? And why would someone steal the dead girl's diary? Eve's investigations take her into the world of the 'parachute kids', rich Asian teens who are left to their own devices in California while their parents live and work in Hong Kong. She also discovers an even more tragic subculture, where destitute young Asian immigrants live in virtual sexual slavery.

As Eve unravels the haunting details and closes in on her scoop, she finds that someone is prepared to kill to keep the story hidden.

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Review:

Susan Straight author of "The Getting Place" and "Highwire Moon" Intricately plotted, breathless in places and achingly bittersweet in others, Denise Hamilton's first novel is a gem. I traveled to places I didn't know at all, in the Asian communities surrounding Los Angeles, and I met people I might never have heard speak if not for her book. It's not just a mystery, it's an entire world laid out in tapestry form.

Book Description:

A passionate and polished debut from an exciting new talent, introducing LA TIMES reporter Eve Diamond

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