Lost in Translation

At dawn in Beijing, Alice Mannegan pedals a bicycle through the deserted streets. An American by birth, she spends her nights in Beijing's smoke-filled bars, and the Chinese men she so desires never misunderstand her intentions. All around her rushes the air of China, the scent of history and change, of a world where she has come to escape her father's love and her own pain. It is a world in which, each night as she slips from her hotel, she hopes to lose herself forever.

For Alice, it began with a phone call from an American archaeologist seeking a translator. And it ended in an intoxicating journey of the heart — one that will draw her into a perilous search for archaeological treasure, plunge her into the vast, uncharted terrain of northwest China, and bring a man named Lin Shiyang into her life. As the expedition twists perilously through the violent history of China, as Alice and Lin slowly seek shelter in each other, an extraordinary series of events begins to unfold ... in this haunting, utterly unforgettable novel.