Gift of the Golden Mountain

Meticulous research, nonstop adventure and a sparkling evocation of place combine to make this sequel to Hers the Kingdom a compellingly readable account of the lives of the multi-ethnic, wealthy Reade family. Although it centers on May Reade (aka Wing Mei-jin), whose disappearance in the vastness of mainland China provides the book with a bang-up start, her aunt and guardian, Kit McCord, is a formidable runner-up for attention. Twin of Porter Reade, May's father (now dead but long under indictment for leftwing activity), Kit has mothered May from birth, her own mother, Ch'ing Ling, having determined to return alone to China. Now, however, believing that Kit was responsible for Ch'ing Ling's decision, May repudiates her once-beloved aunt and sets out to find the woman, haunter of her dreams, who gave her infant daughter into another's care. But many action-packed journeys precede this one, as May, a geologist obsessed with volcanoes, travels to Hawaii and then to Southeast Asia to study and observe. She is always in danger, often imprisoned and tortured, dogged by the persistent hatred and resentment of a former friend as well as by her father's reputation and the political activism of her Chinese family. This is a rousing tale, a bit weak on characterization, but propelled by Streshinsky's sure sense of narrative drive. (April)