Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Red Oblivion
    Red Oblivion
    Red Oblivion
    Ebook287 pages5 hours

    Red Oblivion

    By Leslie Shimotakahara

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Family secrets surface when two sisters travel to Hong Kong to care for their ill father.

    When Jill Lau receives an early morning phone call that her elderly father has fallen gravely ill, she and her sister, Celeste, catch the first flight from Toronto to Hong Kong. The man they find languishing in the hospital is a barely recognizable shadow of his old, indomitable self.

    According to his housekeeper, a couple of mysterious photographs arrived anonymously in the mail in the days before his collapse. These pictures are only the first link in a chain of events that begin to reveal the truth about their father’s past and how he managed to escape from Guangzhou, China, during the Cultural Revolution to make a new life for himself in Hong Kong. Someone from the old days has returned to haunt him — exposing the terrible things he did to survive and flee one of the most violent periods of Chinese history, reinvent himself, and make the family fortune. Can Jill piece together the story of her family’s past without sacrificing her father's love and reputation?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateSep 21, 2019
    ISBN9781459745223
    Author

    Leslie Shimotakahara

    Leslie Shimotakahara holds a Ph.D. in English from Brown University. Her memoir, The Reading List, was winner of the Canada-Japan Literary Prize, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the KM Hunter Artist Award. Leslie lives in Toronto.

    Related to Red Oblivion

    Related ebooks

    Asian American Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Breede River beauties

      Dec 17, 2019

      Breede River beauties
      7 min read

    • Article

      Get Outta Town!

      Apr 11, 2018

      Get Outta Town!
      5 min read

    • Article

      People Are Strange

      Oct 13, 2019

      People Are Strange
      5 min read

    • Article

      Kleinmond For The Win!

      Mar 25, 2022

      Kleinmond For The Win!
      12 min read

    • Article

      A Change Of Scene

      Apr 3, 2022

      A Change Of Scene
      9 min read

    • Article

      On The Road

      Mar 2, 2023

      IT’S RUBBISH! Once upon a time, so this story starts, two four-wheel-drives’ worth of us headed up 90 Mile Beach for some gritty camping. Despite it being a beach, 90 Mile is also a designated highway, and while it doesn’t carry the traffic of Auckla

      4 min read

    • Article

      Happy As A Mudlark

      Jul 13, 2020

      Happy As A Mudlark
      8 min read

    • Article

      In The Footprints Of The Ancestors

      Mar 2, 2023

      In The Footprints Of The Ancestors
      11 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Mar 1, 2018

      Table Talk
      10 min read

    • Article

      Lost Souls

      Jun 3, 2021

      Lost Souls
      9 min read

    • Article

      Talking RUBBISH

      Jul 1, 2020

      “It was like a moment from a Noël Coward play. You know, the bit where the lovers meet again for the first time in many years and it’s all slightly formal and awkward. There always seems to be a moment like that in a Noël Coward play. Not that I’m

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Book To Get Lost In

      Feb 17, 2020

      A Book To Get Lost In
      7 min read

    • Article

      Remembering Andy Pollitt

      Oct 2, 2023

      Remembering Andy Pollitt
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Lost Cause

      Dec 6, 2020

      A Lost Cause
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Lost Word

      Apr 24, 2023

      The Lost Word
      11 min read

    • Article

      Following a Thread

      Sep 19, 2019

      Following a Thread
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Fun Part

      Apr 14, 2023

      The Fun Part
      2 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Sep 4, 2018

      In London. England. Who knows why?Perhaps this rumpled guyFrom central casting or a page of Dickens.He’s taking ordinary usTo haunts of the illustrious,Where even dull pulse quickens. A red felt hat’s dark fingered brim,Food-spotted vest are—him.A mo

      4 min read

    • Article

      Lost And Found

      Dec 5, 2021

      Lost And Found
      9 min read

    • Article

      Writers’ Places

      Dec 17, 2019

      Writers’ Places
      14 min read

    • Article

      Chitchat

      Nov 25, 2022

      Write to us and tell us about your move to the platteland or your dreams of doing so, the characters in your town, the things you love… or the things that bug you. Go to platteland.net and click on“English”and then“Contact”to write your letter, or se

      7 min read

    • Article

      In Vellies We Trust

      Dec 3, 2021

      In Vellies We Trust
      4 min read

    • Article

      An Era In Fayetteville

      Aug 13, 2019

      An Era In Fayetteville
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Red Oblivion

    3.5/5

    4 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Jill and her sister Celeste leave their homes in Canada to travel to Hong Kong, where their father lies dying in a hospital bed. Jill finds a letter, which seems to be exhorting or blackmailing her father. When she asks about the letter, he becomes agitated, and his health further declines. Determined to uncover the truth, Jill tracks down the letter's author.Although I thought the story line and premise was interesting, I felt that nothing was really resolved in the book. Jill only uncover vague, incomplete stories. Much of the book is her speculating about what her father may have done. I found this a bit unsatisfying. Based on this criticism, I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

    Book preview

    Red Oblivion - Leslie Shimotakahara

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1