In mid-April, 1989, student-led vigils were held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. Over several days, the vigils following the death of Chairman Hu, evolved into a major protest, calling for political reform and greater freedom for the people. A young woman, who was identified as the primary organizer, escaped from China with her young daughter Alice and became a celebrity refugee in Washington, D.C. She took the Americanized name of Vivien Li (not to be confused with the famous actor of the time). By early June of that year, Chinese tanks rolled into the square, but they stopped when a young man bravely stood in their path and would not move. “Tank Man” was the brother of Vivien Li.
Throughout her life, Alice Li, now a food blogger, has been overshadowed by her mother to the point where she has become antagonistic toward the famous human-rights activist. But, when all of the sirens and alarms are simultaneously set off in every city in the U.S. and everywhere else in the world, Vivien takes Alice with her to the White House where she has the ear of President Fraser Pardington.
Soon, Vivien and Alice find themselves in the middle of a conference involving President Pardington and several of his top advisors. One presidential advisor says, “Sabotage like that would take years. And millions, billions of dollars. Who’s financing it?”
Consensus is China. Interestingly, Alice’s friend and fellow food blogger Liam happens to be in Hong Kong, and he sends Alice a photograph of himself, standing on a boat and holding a coconut bun, a favorite breakfast in Southern China. Immediately, Alice senses that something is wrong because Liam is so allergic to coconut that even touching it would burn his skin.
When it is discovered that Liam has mysteriously drowned, Pardington and the two women assume that the photograph must have been some sort of secret message. Perhaps Liam was trying to warn Alice and, consequently the United States, that some sort of disaster was about to happen. This supposition is cemented when the President’s technological specialists track the signal that triggered the siren blasts to one particular city in China.
Tensions between the U.S. President and China’s Chairman Chen escalate as each believes that the other is to blame. But then, a second worldwide disaster occurs. Of course, both superpowers deny having instigated the events that have resulted in hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of deaths. Vivien and Alice leave for Hong Kong, with little more than a vague suspicion that the protest movement started by Vivien decades earlier might be responsible and is certainly planning for a third, and potentially even more disastrous global event, perhaps perpetrated by APAI (Adaptive Predictive Artificial Intelligence).
The Last Mandarin (2026, 383 pages in hardback format) by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung moves so quickly that it is nearly impossible to put the book down. Trying to imagine what happens next is a waste of time because the improbable only follows the implausible as the two women venture into the most sacred and secret folds of the fabric of Chinese society, history, and myth.
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Jim Glynn may be contacted at j_glynn@att.net.