 Mainstream Fiction |
JADE Marcia King-Gamble BET/Sepia November 2002 (4) Katika Floyd |
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PLOT SYNOPSIS: |
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A poignant, provocative family drama introducing a heroine who, in searching for pieces of her past, discovers the courage to love herself. |
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REVIEW: |
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JADE by Marcia King-Gamble is the story of a young woman on a quest to find the birth parents she never knew. After going through boxes in her adoptive parent’s attic Jade learns that she is the child of an American GI and a Vietnamese woman born near the end of the Vietnam War. This discovery sends her on a trek of discovery to the faraway land where she was born as she deals with the betrayal and lost of relaxing the past she knew is not what she thought it was. Along the way, she encounters Cameron, a handsome man from VA who searches for his own answers in the exotic land of Vietnam. Together they struggle to find a truth that may not want to be found.
The main setting of this novel is Vietnam, both the Vietnam of today and the tumultuous war torn years of the war. Although much of the action in the book does occur in New York, it is the influence of Vietnam on the character’s lives which drives the novel. The setting is crucial to the theme of the book as Jade’s discovery of Vietnam is in part a discovery of herself.
One of the most powerful parts of this book is the supporting characters you meet. Marcia King-Gamble uses the supporting characters to give a face to the cruelty of war and the struggle of Vietnam-era veterans and their families in weaving their stories into the plot of the novel. This is seen most vividly in the character of Cameron, the story’s male lead.
In JADE, Ms. King-Gamble presents a story that is both interesting and informative. It has a plot that moves and characters you want to both love and hate. It takes interesting characters and touches on the issues of self discovery and acceptance of yourself and others. |
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katika@romanceincolor.net (14th October 2002) |
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