Dark Chapter

July 3, 2017
Taiwanese-American Vivian Tan, the heroine of Li’s gripping debut, has moved to London to work as a film producer. While attending a conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she embarks on a hike one afternoon in the city’s Glen Forest Park. On a trail, Vivian encounters a teenage boy, Johnny Sweeney, who was born into poverty and squalor and grew up watching his father physically abuse his mother. At first, Johnny is friendly, but he later attacks Vivian, beating and raping her. After the assault, a distraught Vivian calls a friend, who contacts the local police, initiating a dehumanizing process that grinds on unremittingly right through to Johnny’s trial. Back in London, suffering from PTSD and agoraphobia, Vivian takes leave from her job. Meanwhile, Johnny fails to take responsibility for his crime. The narration alternates between Vivian’s and Johnny’s points of view, though at times whose story is being told is unclear. Still, Li does a fine job exploring how one incident can change the course of a life in this astute psychological study. Agent: Maria Cardona, Pontas Literary & Film Agency (Spain).

August 1, 2017

At 29, Taiwanese American Vivian has realized her goal of living in London and working as a television producer. She treats herself to a weekend in Ireland, pursuing her lifelong passion of hiking in the wilderness, most preferably alone. She has no way of knowing that this decision will lead her directly into the path of 15-year-old Johnny who, thanks to the coaching of his older brother, is constantly on the lookout for girls he'll be able to coax--or force, if need be--into sexual submission. Vivian's encounter with Johnny in a desolate West Belfast park lays the groundwork for years of emotional and legal turmoil. What is striking about this acclaimed first novel (highly recommended for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger) is that not only is it based on an incident in the author's life, but the facility with which Li is able to intertwine the life stories of Vivian and Johnny, giving each substance and depth, sacrificing her own biases to create a clear sight line for the reader. VERDICT Li skillfully compels the reader to examine life stories that have converged through a nightmarish act of violence.--Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017
Inspired by true events in the author's life, this debut novel describes the rape of a young Taiwanese-American woman by a psychologically damaged Irish boy and the traumatic aftereffects of the attack.Vivian Tan, 29, is a London-based, Harvard-educated filmmaker and TV producer with a deep love of travel. During a nature walk in Belfast, where she is attending a reunion of former Mitchell Scholars, she is accosted by Johnny Sweeney, a 15-year-old Traveller who has attacked "beours" closer to his age without suffering any consequences. For all Johnny's cockiness, Vivian is more shocked than scared when he punches her in the head and begins ripping off her clothes. It isn't until long after the harrowing and increasingly bizarre assault, described with breathtaking urgency, that its emotional fallout catches up to her. Even as his world comes crashing down, Johnny persists in thinking Vivian was fair game. He learned his violent ways from his abusive father, who regularly batters him and whose attacks on Johnny's mother led to the division of the family. Avoiding literary trappings, Li trusts the story to tell itself. Alternating between Vivian's and Johnny's points of view to sometimes mesmerizing effect, she shows off a powerful empathy. The novel is marked by telling details that seem lifted from the activist author's real-life ordeal of 2008: the media's portrayal of Vivian as a "Chinese tourist," the awkward emails Vivian sends people to explain her absence from work, the inadequacy and indifference of social services following her rape. That Li was able to write this novel, as both personal catharsis and public service, speaks volumes about her inner strength. Li's offbeat crime novel is both a valuable social document and a riveting page-turner.

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August 1, 2017
Following official celebrations marking the anniversary of Northern Ireland's peace agreement, film producer Vivian Tan is finally free to finish her trip with a solo hike through the hills overlooking Belfast. The hike lives up to her guidebook's promises until Vivian's solitude is interrupted by a teenage boy's unrelenting efforts to befriend her. Vivian's annoyance gives way to fear as she realizes the boy is stalking her through the forest. Hours later, Vivian stumbles from the woods after enduring a brutal assault and rape at the hands of 15-year-old Irish Traveller Johnny Sweeney. In careful detail, Li chronicles Vivian and Johnny's experience with the justice system, Vivian's struggle with PTSD, and Johnny's confused efforts to reconcile unfamiliar feelings of guilt with the lack of empathy he's cultivated under his older brother's influence. Li captures Vivian and Johnny's opposing perspectives realistically, skillfully contrasting their similarities (both are from stereotyped, misunderstood cultures) and dramatic differences. This debut, based on true events, is a thoughtful, empathetic portrayal of the challenges rape victims face when seeking justice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)