Sober and searching yet sublimely comic, this impressive debut about a modern-day missionary in Taiwan charts a journey away from reflexive faith and toward a broader understanding of the world and its ways. Reminiscent of the work of Graham Greene and Norman Rush, but possessing a quirky innocence and gravitas all its own, the novel is crammed with heady matters, clashes of cultures, ill-considered schemes and unrequited love. Vincent Saunders, a man with strong religious beliefs, leaves his tiny Illinois hamlet to take a job as a Christian missionary in Taiwan. As the only volunteer in the mid-sized city of Toulio, he establishes and runs the ministry house, while teaching English classes to make ends meet. His Toulio acquaintances are an odd bunch: fellow boarder Alec, a foul-mouthed, hashish-smoking Scot; Shao-fei, the crippled son of Vincent's landlady; Gloria, a late-arriving volunteer with a passion for Chinese calligraphy and proselytizing. There is also Mr. Gwa, a local businessman, who offers Vincent $10,000 to go to mainland China, find the lovely young girl who has long bewitched the rich merchant, and pretend to marry her in order to bring her back. At first refusing to take the job on moral grounds, Vincent is forced to reconsider after he succumbs to the aggressive advances of Trudy, a wayward teenage girl in one of his English classes, which costs him his job and standing in the community. Rethinking Mr. Gwa's offer, he heads for China to bring back Kai-Ling, the man's bride. It is during this memorable journey to the heart of modern China that Vincent comes of age, emotionally and spiritually, enduring thieves, bizarre encounters and false promises from a reluctant bride with a lover on the side. Artfully pacing the series of revelations that rock the book on its way to a surprising conclusion, Dalton revises conventional assumptions about contemporary China and collective cultural views of love and marriage. This is a noteworthy first novel by a writer to watch. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

This lengthy debut novel relates the journey of Vincent Saunders, a recent college graduate from the Midwest who travels to Taiwan to devote himself to Christian ministry. His naïve morality and self-righteousness are immediately shattered when he becomes involved in a sexual relationship with a younger student. When the affair is discovered, Vincent must leave his ministry and accept an offer from a businessman named Mr. Gwa to travel to the remote northwest corner of China and bring back his prospective bride, the beautiful Kai-ling. Vincent's journey gives him an up-close view of poverty that he never experienced in the Midwest. Because Kai-ling has become involved with another man, Vincent instead retrieves her young sister, Jia-ling, who is then forced into servitude for a friend of Mr. Gwa. Vincent comes to terms with his own wrongdoings by rescuing Jia-ling and discovers that the world is "a grayer, more complicated world than I ever imagined." Vincent's passage from a sheltered, religious life into reality is filled with dramatic episodes and unique characters that make this an exciting page-turner. Recommended for all collections.-David A. Berone, Univ. of New Hampshire Lib., DurhamCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Dalton's debut novel is an evocative, beautiful exploration of modern-day China, seen through the eyes of a young Christian volunteer named Vincent, who travels to Toulio, a small town in Taiwan, to teach English and Bible-study classes. He acquires a ministry house and begins teaching and also takes on a high-school class of 42 bright teenage girls. Vincent encounters many colorful characters, including Alec, a roguish Scotsman, and Mr. Gwa, an elegant businessman who wants Vincent to travel to the mainland and marry the woman he loves and bring her back to him. Vincent refuses but soon finds himself in a compromising position with one of the girls in his high-school class, who boldly flirts with him and then seduces him. When her older brother learns of the affair, Vincent is forced to flee Toulio and rashly accepts Gwa's offer to go claim Kai-ling, the woman Gwa loves. But as Vincent travels across China, he learns more about the country and, ultimately, himself than he expected. Powerful and rewarding reading. KristineHuntley. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Part 1 The Volunteer
Part 2 Sister Gloria, Sister Moon
Part 3 Best Intentions
Part 4 The Goat Herder
Part 5 The Other Half

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.