A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

Jul 14, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

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UPDATE: I just listened to the audiobook of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. It is narrated by Susan Duerden and it is just awful. Susan Duerden manages to over pronounce every single word. Every. Single. Syllable. And she manages to sound pretentious and uncertain at the same time, like every sentence she says is an implied question to a house servant. It's awful. Just painful. DEFINITELY STICK WITH THE BOOK!!!

Disclaimer: I received the audio file of th...more http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...

UPDATE: I just listened to the audiobook of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. It is narrated by Susan Duerden and it is just awful. Susan Duerden manages to over pronounce every single word. Every. Single. Syllable. And she manages to sound pretentious and uncertain at the same time, like every sentence she says is an implied question to a house servant. It's awful. Just painful. DEFINITELY STICK WITH THE BOOK!!!

Disclaimer: I received the audio file of this title free from Edelweiss for review purposes. I was not obliged to write a favourable review--obviously. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Here's my review of the actual book (which I published on June 16, 2012):

Suzanne Joinson's debut novel follows the misadventures of three female missionaries in 1923 along the Silk Road of China, near Kashgar (which I totally knew about and didn't have to look up on a map...twice). They are presumably meant to ride their bikes around, converting everyone to Christianity and spreading the civilizing influence of English Christian ladies everywhere. None of that seems to happen, though one of the ladies in question is only there so she can write a book called A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. Cut to modern day London, where a woman helps a homeless man on her doorstep, only to find herself unravelling a mystery she hadn't bargained on, including why she's been named next of kin to a recently deceased woman who has left her a house full of junk (and an owl!). Both stories are fascinating and compelling, leaving the reader guessing how they will eventually intersect. My only criticism is that it takes a long time for the connection to actually be explained (I guessed part of it, but was still impatient at having to wait so long) and when it is, it's a bit anticlimactic. A bit more information at the end would have made a more satisfying overall read.

On an unrelated note, it's also the second book in a row I've read about cycling (the other was Chris Cleave's Gold, which couldn't have been more different). I guess in the spirit of full disclosure I should reveal my shameful secret. Here goes:

Okay, here goes.

I do not know how to ride a bike.

*sniff* It's true. I never learned. It's not like I used to know and then forgot (I heard that's impossible). I just never learned. I hope this doesn't affect the way you think of me or my reviews (especially those about bicycles).

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley.com. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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Jan 02, 2013 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

I quite liked this book but it was not at all what I was expecting from the title and the back cover.

I was expecting something quite light and this got dark pretty quickly both in the historical portion and the modern part of the book. There are so many things that are lightly touched on here, religion, sexuality, colonialism, honour killings, missionaries, etc...

Very little about any cycling, though she did cart the bicycle half way round the world :-)

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Mar 09, 2013 Ricki Treleaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

This week I read A Lady Cyclists's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson. This is Joinson's first novel, and I will definitely read more of her books in the future. The book contains two stories that are about 100 years apart. First there is Evangeline, a young lady who accompanies her sister, Elizabeth, on a mission trip to Kashgar in Western China during the 1920s. Kashgar is one of the most remote cities in the world, so I thought the premise of a lady actually selling the idea for a lady cycli...more This week I read A Lady Cyclists's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson. This is Joinson's first novel, and I will definitely read more of her books in the future. The book contains two stories that are about 100 years apart. First there is Evangeline, a young lady who accompanies her sister, Elizabeth, on a mission trip to Kashgar in Western China during the 1920s. Kashgar is one of the most remote cities in the world, so I thought the premise of a lady actually selling the idea for a lady cyclist's guide to Kashgar to a publisher as highly unlikely. Evangeline fools the mission board that she wants to travel to China as a missionary, but really she is only out to have an adventure with her sister while writing the guidebook.

Elizabeth and Evangeline's mission leader to is Millicent, a middle-aged missionary who is manipulative and twisted. I truly hated this character, and I found her a bit far-fetched. I wish Joinson had balanced this hateful character with a stronger missionary who was committed to serving the China Inland Mission and God because when I think of Chinese missionaries, I immediately think of one of my heroes, Lottie Moon. When the ladies first arrive, a young girl is giving birth right outside the gates of Kashgar. Millicent helps the girl deliver and hands the baby to Evangeline. The mother dies, and the three ladies are soon put under house arrest for murder. They are placed in a hotel run by a Mohammed and his family, and soon cultures and religions clash.

In present-day London, Frieda peeks out her door and finds a Middle-Eastern man sitting in the hallway outside her apartment. She gives him a blanket and pillow, and the next morning she finds lovely feathers and Arabic words that have been drawn on the hallway wall. Tayeb, the artist, befriends Frieda and helps her solve a mystery: An elderly aunt unknown to Frieda has left her belongings to Frieda. While clearing out the aunt's home, Frieda discovers a journal and a copy of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar.

Both stories eventually come together as the identity of the mysterious aunt is revealed. As much as I hated Millicent, I think I preferred the story in the past because I was unsatisfied with Frieda and Tayeb's ending. I thought it was too ambiguous, and I would have appreciated more closure. I must say that my timing in reading this book couldn't have been better based on what has been happening in the Arab world this week. Eastern and Western philosophies, religions, and culture clash in this novel in both Evangeline and Frieda's worlds.
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Feb 04, 2013 Knitme23 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. Not sure whether it was the TERRIBLE, ATROCIOUS, WHAT-THE-HELL-WERE-THEY-THINKING reader or the pretty much random plot that got to me worse. . . but listening to this book became an effort of will. I finished it this evening with a sigh of relief, decided to pan it (I had honestly been thinking quite hard about whether it was good and I had just lost patience or was being short-sighted), and then cracked up when reading the review below this one, which clearly agrees with me about the read...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Helenbookwoods rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel has two timeframes/heroines. Frieda in present day London is a social researcher specialising in Islamic countries but this work leaves her feeling ambivalent. Unexpectedly, she is named as next of kin to an elderly women who has died, a woman she has never heard of. Meanwhile a hundred years or so earlier, Eva and her sister Lizzie embark, along with the domineering missionary, Millicent, on a trip to convert Muslims in Kashgar near Tajikistan (Eva is commissioned to write a book abo...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have long been fascinated by Central Asia and a novel promising to depict intrepid British women cycling in these seldom visited places in the 1920s was too much to resist. And the novel delivered fully on this promise.

We first meet Millicent, Lizzie and Evangeline as they are on a journey to identify a site for a Christian mission in Turkestan (an area that incorporates modern day Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Uighur region of China). They interrupt thei...more I have long been fascinated by Central Asia and a novel promising to depict intrepid British women cycling in these seldom visited places in the 1920s was too much to resist. And the novel delivered fully on this promise.

We first meet Millicent, Lizzie and Evangeline as they are on a journey to identify a site for a Christian mission in Turkestan (an area that incorporates modern day Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Uighur region of China). They interrupt their journey in Kashgar to deliver a very young girl of her baby. In the process, the young girl dies and the baby lives. The three missionary women are duly arrested on suspicion of killing the girl, yet they are left to care for the newborn baby girl. Under house arrest, they learn of the political upheaval going on all around them. They befriend a drunken Italian priest who seems to fly under the political radar. As the only friendly European voice, they welcome him into their lives despite dire warnings from their sponsor, a Mr Steyning, based in Urumqi.

There are wonderful subtexts. We infer that Millicent is lesbian and that Lizzie is attracted to her. Meanwhile, Evangeline, who narrates the story, also seems drawn to Millicent. Thus, we start to question their various motivations for being out in the desert.

This story is interleaved with a strange modern day story of Frieda, a widely travelled researcher who finds a strange Yemeni man outside the door to her flat, alongside elaborate graffiti of bird feathers. This man, Tayeb, seems to be on the run from the immigration authorities and, conveniently, Frieda has been given the keys to a council flat as the next of kin to a deceased woman, Irene Guy. Frieda has a week to go through the flat, take what she wants, and the rest will be cleared and the flat re-let.

The second story is weaker; Frieda is not as well drawn as Evangeline and at times it feels rather contrived. But most of all, modern day Norwood simply doesn't feel as evocative as 1920s Turkestan. For the first half of the novel, this story feels like an unwelcome intruder and its link with Kashgar is unclear. There is a reveal where things come together and it is well done. But it isn't quite clear that the story as a whole has a point to it. On its own, the Kashgar story might have been short but it had an internal consistency. It was a study of dislocation and clash of cultures. It had elements of the innocent abroad. But Frieda's story feels like a bookending device that will make things feel profound whilst not actually adding much. It is a minor thing, but it just stops the novel from quite achieving brilliance...

...because actually, for the most part it is very close to brilliance. The atmosphere is real; the descriptions are luminous and when there is suspense and thrill, it is well controlled.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar is a terrific debut and well worth persevering through some initial confusion. The momentum really does build. (less)

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Jan 04, 2013 lady jane added it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

Like many who read this debut novel, I think that it has strengths and weaknesses. A potential reader should try to approach with a mind free from preconceptions and expectations. This will allow the author to create her subtle world and allow the reader to enjoy the characters without disappointment. I appreciate that Joinson leaves the reader with certain mysteries unsolved at the end of the book and that she leaves gaps in the histories of her characters. Some might see this as disappointing,...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Jeannie Mancini rated it 2 of 5 stars

As an Amazon Vine reviewer I try not to read any other reviews before reading a book, as to not cloud my own reading experience or judgement. But, as I was approaching this novel's three quarter mark I just had to stop and check out the other reviews. I had gotten to the point where I was leaning towards calling it quits and tossing it in the pile to be taken the used bookstore for trade in credit. Although I give the author credit and two stars just for the story concept alone, which is a creat...more As an Amazon Vine reviewer I try not to read any other reviews before reading a book, as to not cloud my own reading experience or judgement. But, as I was approaching this novel's three quarter mark I just had to stop and check out the other reviews. I had gotten to the point where I was leaning towards calling it quits and tossing it in the pile to be taken the used bookstore for trade in credit. Although I give the author credit and two stars just for the story concept alone, which is a creative one, I felt the book was simply lacking in substance and story.

The story is told by two characters that switch from the present to the past. At the point where I had to throw in the towel, I still had not seen a connection linking the stories together. The novel moves at a snail's pace, moving so slow it almost doesn't move at all. I am not a reader who needs a lot of action or drama to keep my attention but this narrative was painfully boring. Joinson's character development is very lame, neither the couple in the now, or the three sisters in the past, had any depth to their personalities enough for the reader to either like them or dislike them. Their characters were flat and lifeless and I found myself simply not caring what happened to any of them.

In the present we have a young Yemeni man, basically homeless, who finds himself on the doorstep of a young woman who has recently inherited a house from a mysterious woman she never heard of. In the past we have three British sisters acting as missionaries in the Middle East in the 1800's, causing local unrest and trouble when their arrival is unwelcome. I found the unique personalities and actions of these three sisters highly unlikely for the era they lived in and for the places they visited.

The title of this novel is A Lady's Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. Even though the key sister of the story that takes place in the past, (the actual narrator for that section of the book), is writing a cyclist's guide of her travels that she hopes will be published at their journey's end, I came across no cycling happening at all even after reading three quarters of the book. I guess it was not "all about the bike". Certainly with this novel, I did not get what I expected. It was poorly written, lacked a little meat to flavor the story, had lifeless characters one couldn't relate to, and to boot had so many grammatical errors and poor sentence structure that I ended up giving up telling myself that there were hundreds of other books in my stacks to get to instead of wasting anymore time on this one I was not enjoying. Sorry folks, I give any author credit for trying, but this was strongly lacking in the key ingredients that make a novel excellent. (less)

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Dec 05, 2012 Beth rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Lady Cyclist doesn't bicycle much but does use this title as her diary/journal name, and the name of the book she is to eventually write for publication. She exists in 1923 as Eva who with her sister, Lizzie,and another woman, Millicent, goes along the silk road intending to be missionaries. I'd say without missionary interest or passion. What they do is not follow basic customs of travel where one trys to understand the culture of a place. Instead, Eva ends up with a baby when a woman died,...more

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Nov 26, 2012 dirt rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is very little actual bike riding in this story, but I will refrain from cries of false advertisement because the book is quite an adventure. Not exactly a heart-breaking novel, but it did leave you wondering "Well, what was all that sacrifice for anyway?" There are numerous themes that tie the past and present story lines, from alienation and religious hypocrisy to love and our hurried lives.

The Library Journal review is spot on: "Beautifully written in language too taut, piercing, and s...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Belinda rated it 2 of 5 stars

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar opens with an immediately engrossing scene. Three lady missionaries come upon a young girl in labor. Villages are afraid or unwilling to help the pregnant girl, a child herself, so the missionary ladies step in. The baby is born, the new mother dies, and the missionary ladies are led away to be charged with murder.

At this point, I expected to love this book.

The missionaries are Eva, our narrator; her sister Lizzie and an older woman called Millicent. The mission...more

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Nov 08, 2012 L_manning rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eva is going on a grand adventure. With her sister Lizzie and her acquaintance Millicent, they are traveling to Kashgar as missionaries. It's a treacherous road for 3 women in the 1920's, but Eva is determined to make the best of it. While she is traveling, Eva is writing a guide for cycling to Kashgar. Back in the present, Freida is a world traveler. She loves the freedom of being able to leave and experience so many wonderful places. Soon though, she meets Tayeb, a man trying to avoid deportat...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Felice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another debut novel, another winner. It seems like 2012 has been a good year for first timers. What do you think? The latest in this series of good reads for me is A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson.

The action in A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar is set in 1923 and involves sisters Eva and Lizzie. They are on their way to do mission work in the Chinese governed, Muslim city of Kashgar. Lizzie despite her frailness is the zealot on this trip although she does have other passion...more Another debut novel, another winner. It seems like 2012 has been a good year for first timers. What do you think? The latest in this series of good reads for me is A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson.

The action in A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar is set in 1923 and involves sisters Eva and Lizzie. They are on their way to do mission work in the Chinese governed, Muslim city of Kashgar. Lizzie despite her frailness is the zealot on this trip although she does have other passions. Eva, who has brought along her prized bicycle, is looking for adventure and a possible book contract for a travel guide. The third wheel on this journey is Millicent Frost. She is the expert, the one who is going to see them to Silk Road city of Kashgar.

There is also a contemporary side to the novel. Joinson has divided the action between the missionaries and the story of Frieda in present day London. ---Let’s take a full stop here for a moment. When have you ever read a novel that toggles between a historical setting and a contemporary one where the author manages to keep them both of equal interest? Does the word never come to mind? There must have been at least one or two books over the years that I have read that used that device and the Miss Modern Times part has been equal to the historical portion but I cannot for the life of me think of them.

Frieda is a professional expert on Islamic youth and little else. She is questioning her relationship with a married man, helping a homeless filmmaker get on his feet and inheriting things from some mysterious person she seems to have no connection with. Taybo is the homeless man. He is a refugee from Yemen whose visa has expired.

The locales, the period details and the politics in Lady Cyclist’s are all layered in with a casual simplicity that creeps up on you. No beating you over the head with research here. (Yipee!) The excellent characterizations in Lady Cyclist’s are successful fed by these details and the plot. Eva, Lizzie, Millicent and Frieda are all carefully drawn. Their very interesting quirks and their search for themselves all come about naturally but don’t assume that equates to a See Dick and Jane kind of obviousness. Joinson uses her talent to let you bring all of these particulars together and discover for yourself the depths of the idividuals and the relationships.

Can Frieda’s search for the reasons behind an unknown benefactor’s gift, the wonderfully interesting inventory of the inheritance, her relationship with Taybo and her everyday living problems really compete with the story of three white women who take off in 1923 searching for all different freedoms in an unstable country? The answer is a surprising yes. Hats off to Joinson for pulling that off! In The Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar she has married skillful writing with an emotionally and historically rich story about independence, abandonment and love. (less)

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Sep 01, 2012 Nancy Brisson rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed many things about A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar: A Novel by Suzanne Joinson, but not everything. I enjoyed the way it shifted between present day London and the three missionary ladies who left London in 1923 to save souls in the deserts of Sinkiang (or Eastern Turkestan). In present day London we follow Frieda who studies young people in Middle Eastern nations for a foundation. We find her disillusioned by the kinds of things the foundation wants her to study and she finds that sh...more I enjoyed many things about A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar: A Novel by Suzanne Joinson, but not everything. I enjoyed the way it shifted between present day London and the three missionary ladies who left London in 1923 to save souls in the deserts of Sinkiang (or Eastern Turkestan). In present day London we follow Frieda who studies young people in Middle Eastern nations for a foundation. We find her disillusioned by the kinds of things the foundation wants her to study and she finds that she is finally losing her wanderlust. She is also fed up with her married lover and her life is at a turning point. All she needs is a catalyst.

In 1923 there are two sisters, Lizzie and Eva (Elizabeth and Evangeline) English and the indomitable Millicent, the most hodge-podge group of missionary ladies you will ever meet. Lizzie, Eva’s younger sister, is there because she has been “hypnotized” by the much older Millicent. Eva is there because she is the sister who always wanted to travel (Lizzie cared nothing for travel until someone put a Leica in her hands and introduced her to Millicent). Eva is also there because she doesn’t want to let go of her sister and because she is on a mission from her mother to look after Lizzie. Lizzie is frail in several ways and is, from the beginning, a bird blown by a wind that is too powerful for her weak constitution to endure. Birds are symbols throughout this narrative, as are bones. Even Evangeline’s bicycle is sometimes symbolic. Eva is the only one of the women who actually rides a bicycle.

In present day London, a Yemeni man who has lived in England for some time, is in danger of being deported because he misunderstood a social situation. He ends up sleeping outside Frieda’s door which he chose basically at random (is it fate)? Frieda takes pity and hands him a pillow and blanket and with that act, Tayeb becomes part of the catalyst that brings change to Frieda’s life. Frieda also inherits the contents of an apartment from a person she doesn’t seem to know, but who claims her as her last living relation. Here is the second half of the catalyst to change, and here is the bridge between decades.

This is a complex book, with many characters, all worth meeting, although they are not all good people. Throughout this book we experience the clash between the Muslim world and the Christian world as seen through the words of Eva’s journals which are published by Mr. Hatchett when she returns from her bicycling tour. A bicycling tour sounds so innocent but Eva learns little about innocence in her journey to Kashgar. In fact the desert symbolism is more about bones than it is about birds, although both are present. As a result of the first act of this trio of pseudo-missionaries, which is to try to help a 10-year-old native deliver a baby, Eva ends up with just about the only innocent thing she encounters on this harsh journey. The arrogance of the missionary role is revealed clearly as the events in this story unfold.

It is clear that things have not progressed all that much from 1923 to 2012, although some progress is indicated as you will see when you arrive at the end of the story. It appears that I have told you a lot (the whole book, perhaps), but there is so much more that I haven’t told you. I did like that the journeys these women went on were described in terms that are very different from a traditional romanticized travelogue. I was a bit disappointed by the ways in which the issues of homosexuality were raised in this book. I’m just not sure that it was necessary in every case where it occurred, and, at least in one case, it seemed stereotypical (perhaps in every case). This is not a fatal flaw in the book, but this did mar, for me, my overall enjoyment. In fact I had trouble with almost all of the women in this book except Frieda and Evangeline, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t seem real.
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Aug 31, 2012 Kerry Hennigan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar” sounded like just the kind of historical traveller’s tale I love. One of those magical “stranger in a strange land” adventures of an intrepid Edwardian woman venturing where foreigners aren’t welcomed and foreign women are seldom, if ever seen.

However, Suzanne Joinson’s novel turns out to be quite different from these expectations. Most of the historical action takes place while the narrator, her sister and their friend Millicent are under house arrest because...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those looking for a different fiction book

Recommended to Sam by: sent to me by publisher

A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar should not be discounted once you’ve read the title even if you’re not a lady, not a cyclist, nor know where Kashgar is. (It’s in the far west of China, near Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). This book doesn’t really contain much about cycling (only a few references to a bicycle), nor is it a travel guide. It’s a lovely story with two parallel narratives running. How are they linked? You’ll probably guess that before the characters do, but it’s a charming read of the...more A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar should not be discounted once you’ve read the title even if you’re not a lady, not a cyclist, nor know where Kashgar is. (It’s in the far west of China, near Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). This book doesn’t really contain much about cycling (only a few references to a bicycle), nor is it a travel guide. It’s a lovely story with two parallel narratives running. How are they linked? You’ll probably guess that before the characters do, but it’s a charming read of the twists and turns life takes across the ages.

The first character we meet is Evangeline (Eva), who has almost arrived in Kashgar on a missionary journey with her sister Lizzie and Lizzie’s friend Millicent. They try to help a young woman giving birth, but the woman dies and they become imprisoned in Kashgar. Help is not forthcoming. During the long hot days and nights, Eva writes her book/diary – ‘A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar’.

In present day London, Frieda returns from yet another trip to the Middle East to find her married lover has left her in the lurch (again) and Tayeb, a refugee from Yemen, outside. When she gives him a blanket, a friendship starts up and they join forces to find the mysterious Irene Guy, who Frieda is listed the next of kin for.

I really enjoyed this book – I can’t say I was overly sure where Kashgar was or knew much about it (except that it’s likely that Michael Palin’s been there!) Eva’s insights into the culture of the Turkish and the Chinese communities were fascinating, and the reactions to the Christian missionaries were also surprising (especially for the fate of one character). Joinson also managed to evoke the dry dusty heat and parched horizons very well – Kashgar was just as I’d pictured it when I looked it up online.

I also had a giggle at the research Frieda does in her quest to find out who Irene Guy is. Joinson must have done a similar search herself, because one of the Irene Guys listed (real name is a slight variant) works very close to my former workplace! I’d love to know if she knew she was listed in a book, which I find awesome!

The characters, particularly Tayeb and Lizzie, all had particular quirks which differentiated them in the book. Lizzie is rarely seen without her Leica and Tayeb enjoys drawing birds and writing quotes on public walls (in fact, this gets him in quite a bit of trouble)! Millicent is somewhat of an enigma; I couldn’t work out exactly what she was up to, but I got a reasonable idea.

My only criticism of this book is that is wrapped up just a little too quickly and neatly. I would have loved to read some more about Frieda’s mother and her ‘cult’, her relationship with Tayeb and just a bit more about Irene Guy.

This book is fascinating – a departure from the norm of literary fiction which is truly original. Definitely worth a read – it would be perfect to distract you on a long journey or for a cozy day of reading.

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Aug 05, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up from the stack from the library primarily because it's due back on Thursday thinking that I would read for 15 minutes or so. Best laid plans--I read this while I was cooking breakfast, I read it while eating breakfast, I read it in the garden, I read it all afternoon. I couldn't put it down. In her debut novel, Suzanne Joiner seamlessly weaves together two stories. In the first, set in 1923, three young English women find themselves under house arrest in Kashgar, Turkestan...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reason for Reading: First off the title attracted me, then secondly I was both interested in the location and time period as these are favourite topics of mine.

A very intriguing story that kept me hooked from start to finish. Told in two points of view. One the first hand account of the diary of Eva as she travels through 1920s China as a Christian missionary at a time when it is under major Muslim upheaval. Second, the third person narrative of a modern day English woman and Arab immigrant man...more Reason for Reading: First off the title attracted me, then secondly I was both interested in the location and time period as these are favourite topics of mine.

A very intriguing story that kept me hooked from start to finish. Told in two points of view. One the first hand account of the diary of Eva as she travels through 1920s China as a Christian missionary at a time when it is under major Muslim upheaval. Second, the third person narrative of a modern day English woman and Arab immigrant man who meet surreptitiously and together put their lives back on track. I found the historical element entirely gripping and engrossing. I always enjoy stories told through journal entries and found Joinson has used this device well; bringing the reader into not only the time period and the plot but also the geography of a land that no longer exists in today's world. I found her detail for description to be just the right amount to bring her world to life without getting bogged down in tedium. It is a hot, dry, thirsty world and was perfect for my time spent reading in the hot days of summer. I totally loved the characters in this part of the story as well, though not actually personally liking anyone except Eva, they were all very large as life personalities who brought a tale of religious riot to life.

On the other hand I found the modern day story somewhat lacking. Taking up much less space than the other story, less time is given to developing the characters and I never felt connected to either Frieda or Tayeb. Their story seemed somewhat rushed, their connection not quite coherent and honestly Freida's story could have been told to greater depths without the Tayeb connection. This could have allowed the author to concentrate more on the mother/daughter theme which runs through the book but got lost and wasn't fulfilled to any great satisfaction. Freida and Tayeb's story was a pleasant diversion though and while I wasn't happy with how it connected to the past, it did connect, and proved itself in the end. For fans of epistolary fiction and historical fiction that concentrates on society and character rather than events.(less)

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Jul 21, 2012 Kb rated it 3 of 5 stars

With the two intertwining stories of "lost" women trying to find themselves, I kept reading though I had anticipated the solution to a central mystery much earlier than it was revealed to the characters. The story of Eva, the missionary from the 1920s, was more compelling, but with present-day Frieda I found an amusing affinity. Having myself grown up wishing for normal food and (especially) no embarrassing pictures of mom's guru in the living room when I invited friends over, I identified stron...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Roxanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was very impressed with Suzanne Joinson's debut novel. I was drawn to this book because looking at the cover I could not figure out how the lady in the beautiful purple dress was going to ride her bike in what looked like some pretty rugged terrain.

This dual storyline was very well done. My preference would have been for the entire book to be about Eva, but the author did a very good job of keeping present day Frieda in contention with Eva.

I did a comprehensive review of the map at the front o...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Angel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked the cover of this book and had a hard time figuring out why a "lady" would want to be riding around on a bicycle in the China desert.

Keeping in line with the last several debut novels I have read, I was very impressed with this book and I was reminded of what true adventure must feel like.

The reason why a lady might want to ride her bicycle anywhere is to get away from her boring life and not admit to anyone that she's got no plans for her life other than to trot along after her s...more

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Jul 14, 2012 BookRambler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you're looking for a new voice, something a bit different from the usual literary fictional narratives, then you'll probably enjoy A Lady Cyclist. The characterisation is what swung it for me. It's a book that switches between past and present and moves towards a collision that we know is coming but the joy of reading is in how it unfolds and marvelling at how the characters come alive on the page with individual voices. I reviewed it for WLTB but didn't do it justice in the word limited coun...more If you're looking for a new voice, something a bit different from the usual literary fictional narratives, then you'll probably enjoy A Lady Cyclist. The characterisation is what swung it for me. It's a book that switches between past and present and moves towards a collision that we know is coming but the joy of reading is in how it unfolds and marvelling at how the characters come alive on the page with individual voices. I reviewed it for WLTB but didn't do it justice in the word limited count. It's about mothering and getting lost, of finding yourself, about otherness and foreignness, and about how we make up our lives from those around us. A lovely debut novel.

Straddling present-day England and Victorian China, Suzanne Joinson’s glorious debut switches easily between lives and times, between the immediacy of unbelieving missionary Evangeline [Eva] English’s first person journal disguised as ‘Notes’ towards her guidebook for lady travellers, and a third person narrator who charts the journey of another lost soul, Frieda Blakeman, who travels both to uncover the truth of Irene Guy, her mysterious benefactor, and, like Eva, to find herself.
Blind to cultural ‘difference’, zealous Millicent has a method of Christian conversion she calls ‘gossiping the gospel’ which leads Eva and her too-trusting sister Lizzie, who records everything on her Leica camera, into a danger from which neither passages from Bunyan and the Bible, nor unhelpful traveller guides, such as Burton and Shaw, can save them.
Frieda is unhappy with her job of making cultural connections across the globe and of her affair with married bicycle-shop owner Nathaniel. She finds Tayeb, a homeless, jobless, illegal immigrant from Yemen, asleep outside her front door and together they piece together her fragmented life. In their pairing, Joinson adds a further layer of complication to the tale.
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar is compelling and vividly realised through unforgettable characterisation and skilful plotting. Leitmotifs, such as birds, bones, and milk weave through strong imagery to create an original story about ‘the layering of different selves that create a life.’

Reviewed in We Love this Book - 13 July 2012(less)

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Jul 08, 2012 CuteBadger rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the 1920s sisters Eva and Lizzie join missionary Millicent on a trip to Kashgar on the Silk Route to save souls. However things go wrong as soon as they arrive, which leaves them in danger. In present-day London Frieda, an expert on the Arabic world, is bequeathed the possessions of an unknown woman and must try to find out how she and the deceased are connected.

It's quite common for contemporary novels to have a dual narrative, with two stories going on which may not immediately seem connect...more

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May 28, 2012 Grace rated it 3 of 5 stars

Author: Suzanne Joinson (pub date June 4) (n)
Title: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar
Description: Eva and her sister are new missionaries to Kashgar, supervised by the nearly fanatical Millicent. Their very first act gets them put under house arrest and awaiting trial on murder charges. Meanwhile, Millicent’s not-so-subtle methods seem to be stirring up animosity among the natives. Running parallel to this story is the modern-day story of Frieda and her new friend Tayeb, an illegal immigrant. Fr...more Author: Suzanne Joinson (pub date June 4) (n)
Title: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar
Description: Eva and her sister are new missionaries to Kashgar, supervised by the nearly fanatical Millicent. Their very first act gets them put under house arrest and awaiting trial on murder charges. Meanwhile, Millicent’s not-so-subtle methods seem to be stirring up animosity among the natives. Running parallel to this story is the modern-day story of Frieda and her new friend Tayeb, an illegal immigrant. Frieda inherits the contents of a flat belonging to someone she has never heard of, and has a week to dispose of them before the housing authority comes in to clear things out.
Review source: ARC from netgalley
Plot: Both plots, the historical and the contemporary, kept my interest. Eva is writing The Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar; she has brought her bicycle with her on the missionary trip. Along with her pointers on cycling, she uses her notebook as a diary to record the events taking place in this country where they are nearly the only foreigners.
Characters: Both of the main female characters, Frieda and Eva, are well-drawn and likeable. The supporting characters are also interesting and believable.
Writing style: It can be tricky to write parallel stories; the author has to make each story interesting in its own right, and they have to move at about the same pace. From the beginning I was more interested in the historical portion of the novel, probably because it was so alien to my own experience. Aside from this bit of unevenness, though, I enjoyed the writing style.
Audience: I’d place this novel squarely between chick lit and literary fiction. I think both groups of readers would enjoy it; it would make a good book group read as well.
Wrap-up: The book’s running theme of religious belief and what it means to the individual as well as to the community was very well done and thought-provoking. I did find the ending to be not as strong as the rest of the book, though. 3.5/5*
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May 25, 2012 Lydia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a stunner. It's slow but relentless, a quiet crescendo to a beautiful ending that made me cry. I loved it.

The story is told switching back and forth between past and present, and the two lines of the plot are so disparate at first that I really didn't anticipate how they were going to come together. Both were interesting, both began with riveting scenes. They were so completely disunited though. How could it work? Yet when they did meet, it felt inevitable and right.

The strange ro...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Vicki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Two fascinating tales are told side by side in this vivid debut novel, A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. One is an incredible story of sisters, two young Englishwomen who aspire to become missionaries in remote southeastern Turkey in 1923. The alternate chapters tell the story of a young professional woman in present day London. Her parents were "free spirits," who we would have called hippies if they were in the USA, and she rebelled by seeking out traditional schooling and a career in researc...more Two fascinating tales are told side by side in this vivid debut novel, A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar. One is an incredible story of sisters, two young Englishwomen who aspire to become missionaries in remote southeastern Turkey in 1923. The alternate chapters tell the story of a young professional woman in present day London. Her parents were "free spirits," who we would have called hippies if they were in the USA, and she rebelled by seeking out traditional schooling and a career in research.

One of the sisters in the first tale, Elizabeth English, is committed to taking the gospel to the heathens in remote southeasternTurkey, but her sister Evangeline is just committed to getting out of England and not being left behind by her sister. She comes up with the excuse of writing the Guide as a ruse, and then, almost accidentally, meets a publisher who is willing to advance her money for her future manuscript, so she is more committed than ever to keeping a journal and attempting to write the book.

In the second tale Frieda Blakeman has just returned from a work-related trip to gather research for a paper on The Youth of the Islamic World as a part of her government job. She hopes to spend the evening with her lover, a married man, but he fails to come to her apartment. Oddly, a possibly homeless man has followed her home from the train station. She winds up offering him a pillow and a blanket, as he is intending to spend the night in the hallway in front of her door. When she checks the next morning, he is gone but the blanket is folded neatly with the pillow, and he has decorated her walls with beautiful drawings of birds. His name is Tayeb and she will meet him again.

Lizzie and Eva are traveling with Millicent, an older experienced female missionary who has a very strong personality and seems to wield an enormous influence on the impressionable Lizzie. As they approach the end of a very difficult journey through the desert, the women hear a woman wailing, who turns out to be a very young girl in the throes of child birth. Millicent determines that they must assist with the delivery, though they are not trained nurses or midwives. When the birth mother dies, the strangers on the road who have stopped to watch, accuse the women of killing the young mother and take steps to have the missionaries arrested. Thus begins their interaction with the people they ostensibly have come to save. Millicent offers the infant to anyone in the crowd who might be related to the child, but no one comes forward. She then assigns child care duties to Eva.

Back in present day London Frieda receives a perplexing letter from the government informing her that she has inherited the contents of a deceased woman's apartment since she is identified in their records as next of kin. Certain that this is a mistake, she calls her dad, who doesn't recognize the name. Frieda's mother had left the commune where the family lived when Frieda was 7, and her dad gave her information of her mom's last known whereabouts in case Frieda wanted to check with her.

The book follows both stories switching back and forth as they move toward the point where the seemingly disparate stories eventually merge. In the meantime we see how cultural differences and language barriers affect communication and community and how love and sacrifice intertwine to create a whole new story.

Quite the good read with lots to ponder when at last the tale has been told. (less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Candace rated it 3 of 5 stars

Suzanne Joinson’s split narrative novel is the kind of book you will indeed finish even though you will be constantly aware of the pitfalls of this narrative style with every chapter. My, that sounded pretentious, but how hard must it be to keep two narratives going and have them both be equally interesting? How hard can it be to find a modern story to compete with a 1920’s Englishwoman writing a guide for ladies who want to go bicycling for heaven’s sake through a remote Muslim area of western...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was loving this book and would have given it 4 1/2 stars all the way up until the end. The story followed two women during two different time periods: Evangeline in the 1920's and Freida in present day. There was also a story arc on Tayeb, and that wove in seamlessly with Freida's story. I spent the first 3/4 of the novel trying to figure out how the two main stories would intersect and loved that. The first 3/4 of the novel had great details and imagery. Evangeline is a missionary in the earl...more I was loving this book and would have given it 4 1/2 stars all the way up until the end. The story followed two women during two different time periods: Evangeline in the 1920's and Freida in present day. There was also a story arc on Tayeb, and that wove in seamlessly with Freida's story. I spent the first 3/4 of the novel trying to figure out how the two main stories would intersect and loved that. The first 3/4 of the novel had great details and imagery. Evangeline is a missionary in the early 1920's, and had traveled to Kashgar with her sister, Elizabeth, and another missionary woman, Millicent. Eva, as she's often called, was not there so much for the missionary work, rather was there to keep watch over her sister. Even though this story arc is only from Eva's point of view, I really got a sense of each of the characters, the bad and the good, and, in Millicent's case, the bad and the not so awful.

Freida's story is slightly less developed, but equally as interesting. She's a foreign correspondent in present-day London who can't seem to stay in one place. She's involved with a man she shouldn't be involved with and has no idea what to do next. When she comes back from somewhere in the middle east, she has a letter saying that an Irene Guy has passed away and she is listed as the next of kin and needs to empty out her apartment. She has no idea who this woman is or how they are related. She calls her father, who is equally stumped. She decides that she must contact her mother, who she hasn't seen since she was a child and is now living on a commune.

Enter Tayeb. He is an illegal immigrant from Yemen, who cannot go home again. He gets caught up in something unpleasant, and then is on the run so he is not deported. This is when his path intersects with Freida's.

The story between Freida and Tayeb is interesting. Together, they set out to figure out Freida's relation (if there even is one) to Irene.

Unfortunately, the book lost me at the end. I don't even know that it was the last 1/4 of the book, but rather the last two chapters that disappointed me. The end felt rushed, almost like the author couldn't exceed a certain page number. Maybe it's supposed to be left rather vague, but I wanted more details. There was a lot that was glossed over and a few questions left unanswered.

Once I found out who Irene was, I wanted to know more about her. I felt her character was essentially missing from the book.

I am so disappointed in the ending because I really did like this novel. Suzanne Joinson did a lot of research on early missionary work, and that fact is evident. I just wanted more.(less)

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Jan 08, 2013 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

What a fascinating story and interesting characters. I loved the cultural interactions both in the story told in the present as well as those told in the diary from 1923. Unfortunately, the author doesn't tie up loose ends the way that I would have liked her to. I also thought that she threw in odd facts that were unnecessary such as why certain characters can't speak ( I'm being vague so as not to create a spoiler) or what the significance and history of the owl was. I wanted this book to be sp...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel moves back and forth between 1923 Kashgar and the Silk Road and the present day in England. In 1923 Evangeline has signed up as a missionary for the group Missionary Order of the Steadfast Face, along with her sister Elizabeth. They are led by Millicent, a forthright woman. Eva has brought her bicycle with her and hopes to write a book about her experiences. Elizabeth is an avid photographer and has brought her camera, but is often lost in a dreamy world of her own. When the small gro...more

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