Jennifer Sun's Blog
June 30, 2016
Good Summer Read
http://kellysthoughtsonthings.com/a-n...
Two Tales of the Moon is about a couple, Lu Li and Will who meet during an economic crisis, but also the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and all the dynamics and complexities that are inherent in such a connection. My own mother and I have always had sort of a complicated relationship.
It was wonderful to read such a smartly written story in which I saw a lot of myself and my mother’s relationship. It was unexpected but has opened a new line of thought regarding my connection with her. There is a lot about our family history that has come to light in the last several years that has caused some fundamental changes in the way we all have viewed our family. I love my mother, but I’d never say that we’ve been very emotionally close. I’m hoping to change that.
For a debut novel, I am so very impressed with Jennifer Sun. I’m certain that she didn’t write this novel with the intent that it might affect a reader the way it has affected me, but I hope that it will bring her a sense of joy and accomplishment that it has done so.
The love story of Will Donovan and Lu Li in the book is a great one, too, I don’t mean at all to ignore it. I was invested in their story throughout the book and enjoyed the interaction between the two characters very much. When I started reading this book, I was thinking it would just be a great summer read, I had no idea how it would affect me on a deeper, familial level.
Two Tales of the Moon is about a couple, Lu Li and Will who meet during an economic crisis, but also the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and all the dynamics and complexities that are inherent in such a connection. My own mother and I have always had sort of a complicated relationship.
It was wonderful to read such a smartly written story in which I saw a lot of myself and my mother’s relationship. It was unexpected but has opened a new line of thought regarding my connection with her. There is a lot about our family history that has come to light in the last several years that has caused some fundamental changes in the way we all have viewed our family. I love my mother, but I’d never say that we’ve been very emotionally close. I’m hoping to change that.
For a debut novel, I am so very impressed with Jennifer Sun. I’m certain that she didn’t write this novel with the intent that it might affect a reader the way it has affected me, but I hope that it will bring her a sense of joy and accomplishment that it has done so.
The love story of Will Donovan and Lu Li in the book is a great one, too, I don’t mean at all to ignore it. I was invested in their story throughout the book and enjoyed the interaction between the two characters very much. When I started reading this book, I was thinking it would just be a great summer read, I had no idea how it would affect me on a deeper, familial level.
April 22, 2016
Two Tales of the Moon Kindle Countdown
Two Tales of the Moon has joined the Kindle Select Program. It will be on countdown ($0.99)from 4/24 through 5/1/2016. Happy reading!
March 22, 2016
Review by DiplomaticCourier - Two Tales of the Moon is a great read for anyone with interests in business, international politics, and especially love.
Wall Street, cyber security, high-stakes business deals, political corruption – usually at the forefront of a political thriller, these elements instead serve as the background to a tale of human connection and love in Jennifer Sun’s debut novel, Two Tales of the Moon.
Set right after the 2008 Financial Crisis, Two Tales of the Moon follows Lu Li, a successful and principled Wall Street investment banker whose troubled past in communist China returns to haunt her after her firm takes on two large Chinese companies as their clients. Meanwhile Will Donovan, CEO and founder of a prospering cyber technology firm, wrestles with whether to keep his company autonomous or accept a lucrative deal and merge with a much larger technology corporation. Soon, both characters find themselves in the middle of a potential business partnership with China’s biggest telecommunication company, Great China Telecom.
As Will and Lu’s paths continue to cross each other from Washington D.C to New York and all the way to Shanghai, their complicated feelings for each other take stage as each struggles with their past, their current predicament with Great China Telecom, and their potential future together. The high-stakes business deals soon give way to a love story that shows how two career-driven people can find solace in each other, even amidst the chaos of IPOs and joint ventures. It is this element of human connection that softens the otherwise tense tale of potential business relations between the US and Great China Telecom.
With US-Sino relations becoming ever more prevalent and convoluted, Two Tales of the Mooncomes at a perfect time to shed light on some of the risks and benefits of increasing involvement between the US and China. On a macro level, Jennifer Sun’s novel demonstrates just how complicated business deals can be between China and America – especially when it comes to cyber security technology, in Will Donovan’s case. With China’s communist government discretely taking a part in most of their large businesses, merging US cyber security technology with a Chinese telecom hardware company would be a political disaster waiting to happen.
At the micro level, however, Sun demonstrates how the US and China can connect on a human level through her characters Will and Lu. Born on opposite sides of the world under vastly different circumstances – Will raised in an archetypical middle-class American family, Lu raised with a father in an internment camp, an absent mother, and a communist regime suppressing all aspects of her life – the two manage to find each other and fall in love against all odds. Likewise, the political differences between America and China should not deter the two countries from connecting with each other on a cultural and purely human level.
However, Jennifer Sun paints a bleak picture of modern day China. Wanting to “shine a light on the effect of communism on China in the past, as well as the still-Red China’s super-power ambition in today’s increasingly globalized world,” she stylizes Shanghai as a pollution-ridden mega city, built on corrupt businesses and large, lavish buildings unrepresentative of China’s low-income population. The characters that live there, such as Lu’s mother and her brother-in-law, are portrayed as cold, condescending, and money-obsessed. The scenery, characters, and dialogue all aid in her portrayal of a corrupt economic and political landscape.
Jennifer Sun, author of Two Tales of the Moon
Besides the harsh portrayal of China, the novel itself is steady-paced and tastefully written, with Jennifer Sun’s keen eye for fashion, food, and martinis painting a vivid backdrop for the characters to rest on. The characters of Will and Lu are strong, calm, and introspective – traits that aid them in their respective careers. With a lot of attention to detail, Sun weaves their story through flashbacks, introspection, and deep dialogue, often glancing over major plot points and instead zooming in on the smaller moments to drive home the human quality of the novel. This has the effect of making the reader feel as if they have been set down in the middle of a story, with a tangible sense of realness preceding the novel and continuing on after the last page.
Overall, Jennifer Sun’s background in finance, technology, and Chinese culture serves as an intriguing backdrop on which to paint a surprisingly genuine love story. The juxtaposition between chaotic Wall Street and subtle human connection, crazy business deals and meditative reflection, and US-Chinese relations and Will and Lu’s love story emphasizes the human nature of the novel. Understated and elegant, Two Tales of the Moon is a great read for anyone with interests in business, international politics, and especially love.
Set right after the 2008 Financial Crisis, Two Tales of the Moon follows Lu Li, a successful and principled Wall Street investment banker whose troubled past in communist China returns to haunt her after her firm takes on two large Chinese companies as their clients. Meanwhile Will Donovan, CEO and founder of a prospering cyber technology firm, wrestles with whether to keep his company autonomous or accept a lucrative deal and merge with a much larger technology corporation. Soon, both characters find themselves in the middle of a potential business partnership with China’s biggest telecommunication company, Great China Telecom.
As Will and Lu’s paths continue to cross each other from Washington D.C to New York and all the way to Shanghai, their complicated feelings for each other take stage as each struggles with their past, their current predicament with Great China Telecom, and their potential future together. The high-stakes business deals soon give way to a love story that shows how two career-driven people can find solace in each other, even amidst the chaos of IPOs and joint ventures. It is this element of human connection that softens the otherwise tense tale of potential business relations between the US and Great China Telecom.
With US-Sino relations becoming ever more prevalent and convoluted, Two Tales of the Mooncomes at a perfect time to shed light on some of the risks and benefits of increasing involvement between the US and China. On a macro level, Jennifer Sun’s novel demonstrates just how complicated business deals can be between China and America – especially when it comes to cyber security technology, in Will Donovan’s case. With China’s communist government discretely taking a part in most of their large businesses, merging US cyber security technology with a Chinese telecom hardware company would be a political disaster waiting to happen.
At the micro level, however, Sun demonstrates how the US and China can connect on a human level through her characters Will and Lu. Born on opposite sides of the world under vastly different circumstances – Will raised in an archetypical middle-class American family, Lu raised with a father in an internment camp, an absent mother, and a communist regime suppressing all aspects of her life – the two manage to find each other and fall in love against all odds. Likewise, the political differences between America and China should not deter the two countries from connecting with each other on a cultural and purely human level.
However, Jennifer Sun paints a bleak picture of modern day China. Wanting to “shine a light on the effect of communism on China in the past, as well as the still-Red China’s super-power ambition in today’s increasingly globalized world,” she stylizes Shanghai as a pollution-ridden mega city, built on corrupt businesses and large, lavish buildings unrepresentative of China’s low-income population. The characters that live there, such as Lu’s mother and her brother-in-law, are portrayed as cold, condescending, and money-obsessed. The scenery, characters, and dialogue all aid in her portrayal of a corrupt economic and political landscape.
Jennifer Sun, author of Two Tales of the Moon
Besides the harsh portrayal of China, the novel itself is steady-paced and tastefully written, with Jennifer Sun’s keen eye for fashion, food, and martinis painting a vivid backdrop for the characters to rest on. The characters of Will and Lu are strong, calm, and introspective – traits that aid them in their respective careers. With a lot of attention to detail, Sun weaves their story through flashbacks, introspection, and deep dialogue, often glancing over major plot points and instead zooming in on the smaller moments to drive home the human quality of the novel. This has the effect of making the reader feel as if they have been set down in the middle of a story, with a tangible sense of realness preceding the novel and continuing on after the last page.
Overall, Jennifer Sun’s background in finance, technology, and Chinese culture serves as an intriguing backdrop on which to paint a surprisingly genuine love story. The juxtaposition between chaotic Wall Street and subtle human connection, crazy business deals and meditative reflection, and US-Chinese relations and Will and Lu’s love story emphasizes the human nature of the novel. Understated and elegant, Two Tales of the Moon is a great read for anyone with interests in business, international politics, and especially love.
February 7, 2016
Radi Interview with P.O.T.U.S. Channel 124
I will be interviewed by "The Morning Briefing" host on POTUS Channel 124 on Sirius Radio tomorrow Monday, Feb. 8th, at 8:35AM. Hope you'll can tune in.
January 4, 2016
Wishing everyone a new year of challenging and happy reading!
Happy 2016 my fellow book lovers!
As a writer, I will continue to observe and analyze the effect of globalization, together with it's merits and fallacies. My second novel, to be completed later this year, will continue to spotlight (as my first novel TWO TALES OF THE MOON did) on how globalization is impacting our lives. Whether it's on the Street of international high finance or main street, we are affected by it. Why? Because globalization creates wealth but also shifts jobs and profits from one region to another, often with unintended consequences. We can blame politicians and corporate greed for lack of job growth and shrinking manufacturing infrastructures, but are we the people completely blameless? The famous American writer Mark Twain noted a century ago that"the lack of money is the root of all evil," and it rings particularly true in today's increasingly competitive and globalized world.
As an avid reader, my shelves are stacked with many books by great authors including Thomas Hardy, Somerset Maugham, Edith Wharton, etc. I love stories about explorations of human nature and human struggle, and why people behave the way they do - universal and timeless elements in the world of literature.
As a writer, I will continue to observe and analyze the effect of globalization, together with it's merits and fallacies. My second novel, to be completed later this year, will continue to spotlight (as my first novel TWO TALES OF THE MOON did) on how globalization is impacting our lives. Whether it's on the Street of international high finance or main street, we are affected by it. Why? Because globalization creates wealth but also shifts jobs and profits from one region to another, often with unintended consequences. We can blame politicians and corporate greed for lack of job growth and shrinking manufacturing infrastructures, but are we the people completely blameless? The famous American writer Mark Twain noted a century ago that"the lack of money is the root of all evil," and it rings particularly true in today's increasingly competitive and globalized world.
As an avid reader, my shelves are stacked with many books by great authors including Thomas Hardy, Somerset Maugham, Edith Wharton, etc. I love stories about explorations of human nature and human struggle, and why people behave the way they do - universal and timeless elements in the world of literature.
December 18, 2015
Two Tales of the Moon book spotlight
From Dec. 19th to Dec. 25th, with Sage Virtual Book Tour.
December 10, 2015
An Insightful Review
"Two Tales of the Moon" has received very good reviews so far, but here is my favorite:
Sun’s use of opposites is intriguing and it is incorporated into every aspect of the novel—east/west, indifference/love, growth/stagnation, hope/fear, among others. Trying to find the balance between each set of opposites helps make the characters relatable.TWO TALES OF THE MOON is a compelling story that reveals that the human struggle is the same regardless of one’s past or cultural upbringing. --IndieReader Review.
Sun’s use of opposites is intriguing and it is incorporated into every aspect of the novel—east/west, indifference/love, growth/stagnation, hope/fear, among others. Trying to find the balance between each set of opposites helps make the characters relatable.TWO TALES OF THE MOON is a compelling story that reveals that the human struggle is the same regardless of one’s past or cultural upbringing. --IndieReader Review.
December 7, 2015
Kirkus Review of "Two Tales of the Moon"
In her first novel, Sun explores a cross-cultural love affair in the world of international business.
In many ways, Lu and Will could not be more different: Lu grew up in China, barely survived the Cultural Revolution, and fled to the United States as soon as possible. The past haunts Lu wherever she goes, especially family members, both living and dead. In contrast, Will is a Navy veteran, a surfer, and the easygoing CEO of a successful tech company. But when a corporate merger throws them together, Lu and Will become star-crossed lovers, and their delicate business dealings become all the more complex. Sun writes competently about Wall Street culture, and she creates a convincing cast of blustery boardroom characters. But the book’s most engaging chapters limn Lu’s difficult back story. When she returns to China after 30 years in the U.S., Lu pieces together a painful tale of politics, parentage, and betrayal. Meanwhile, she barely recognizes her homeland through its choking smog and development...In place of subtext, Sun frames her novel with a Chinese folk tale about a fairy who falls in love with a general. When the general proves cruel, the fairy allows him to die and opts to live alone on the moon. This tale is told twice in the first 10 pages, and it serves as a relentless metaphor for Lu’s displacement...Sun’s book bridges the gap between Chinese tradition and an increasingly globalized West.
In many ways, Lu and Will could not be more different: Lu grew up in China, barely survived the Cultural Revolution, and fled to the United States as soon as possible. The past haunts Lu wherever she goes, especially family members, both living and dead. In contrast, Will is a Navy veteran, a surfer, and the easygoing CEO of a successful tech company. But when a corporate merger throws them together, Lu and Will become star-crossed lovers, and their delicate business dealings become all the more complex. Sun writes competently about Wall Street culture, and she creates a convincing cast of blustery boardroom characters. But the book’s most engaging chapters limn Lu’s difficult back story. When she returns to China after 30 years in the U.S., Lu pieces together a painful tale of politics, parentage, and betrayal. Meanwhile, she barely recognizes her homeland through its choking smog and development...In place of subtext, Sun frames her novel with a Chinese folk tale about a fairy who falls in love with a general. When the general proves cruel, the fairy allows him to die and opts to live alone on the moon. This tale is told twice in the first 10 pages, and it serves as a relentless metaphor for Lu’s displacement...Sun’s book bridges the gap between Chinese tradition and an increasingly globalized West.
December 2, 2015
Latest review of "Two Tales of the Moon"
To all my readers who have praised "Two Tales of the Moon", I want to share with you the latest review by one of the nation's most prestigious literary critiquing institutions:
"Two Tales of the Moon" is a thoughtful portrait of a modern woman who must choose between the burden of memory and a future of her own making...the writing takes on the sharpened focus of a play... the work effectively captures the effects of communism in searingly personal ways. Four Star Rating by -- FOREWARD/CLARION REVIEW
"Two Tales of the Moon" is a thoughtful portrait of a modern woman who must choose between the burden of memory and a future of her own making...the writing takes on the sharpened focus of a play... the work effectively captures the effects of communism in searingly personal ways. Four Star Rating by -- FOREWARD/CLARION REVIEW
November 25, 2015
Blueink Review of Two Tales of the Moon
I just received the following review from Blueink Review:
"Jennifer Sun draws on personal knowledge of China and a former career in telecommunications finance for her well-crafted debut novel about the meeting of East and West, titled Two Tales of the Moon.
Sun paints a compelling picture of China as a country of contradictions. Lu marvels at luxury properties but simultaneously frets about the poor working conditions and pollution her company seems glad to ignore when making deals. Complications ensue from this ethical issue. As Lu observes to Will: “Peel back the surface glitz and glamor, and what’s underneath is not too pretty.”
Frequent descriptions of clothing and food enliven the settings, while flashbacks to Lu’s traumatic girlhood departure from China add psychological depth.
Blending romance and ethical intrigue, this is a unique novel that should please readers who appreciated Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and Sarah Howe’s Loop of Jade.
"Jennifer Sun draws on personal knowledge of China and a former career in telecommunications finance for her well-crafted debut novel about the meeting of East and West, titled Two Tales of the Moon.
Sun paints a compelling picture of China as a country of contradictions. Lu marvels at luxury properties but simultaneously frets about the poor working conditions and pollution her company seems glad to ignore when making deals. Complications ensue from this ethical issue. As Lu observes to Will: “Peel back the surface glitz and glamor, and what’s underneath is not too pretty.”
Frequent descriptions of clothing and food enliven the settings, while flashbacks to Lu’s traumatic girlhood departure from China add psychological depth.
Blending romance and ethical intrigue, this is a unique novel that should please readers who appreciated Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and Sarah Howe’s Loop of Jade.
