What others are saying about CHINA DOLL:

Substitute Dan Brown with CHINA DOLL and take it to the beach without the guilt of not draging War and Peace.”

--Long Island Press

Comparable to “The Poisonwood Bible”

--(ScribesWorld.com)

An emotional roller coaster that grabs the reader in chapter one and never lets go

--(Boulevard magazine)

Carner speaks beautifully for those with no voice

--(Philadelphia Exponent)

A dynamic, well-research page turner addressingreal issues

--(Jewish Book World)

Forgotten babies: A shining storytelling with haunting truths

--(New York Metro Parent)

Vivid imagery...Filled with subtleties andstruggles….

--(RoundtableReviews.com)

.A brilliantly woven tale…. Keeps the reader hooked

--(FrontStreetReviews.com)

Hard to put down… Will occupy your thoughtslong after the last page

--(BookLoons.com)

A gripping voyage of self-discovery

--(FreshFiction.com)

Deserves extra points for making you squirm inyour seat… I highly recommend it

--(ScribesWorld.com)

Impressive and thought-provoking…. Stylishread….

--(NewMysteryReview.com)

A beautiful story… Catches you by surprise

--(ReaderViews.com)

CHINA DOLL

A novel

By Talia Carner

CHINA DOLL

Talia Carner

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2009 Talia Carner

Discover other titles by Talia Carner at Smashwords.com :

PUPPET CHILD

ISBN: 978-0-9773821-2-5

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be

re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with

another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it

with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased

for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your

own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To my father, Yitzhak Yoffe (1917-1991), who taught me that a parent’s love is not biology.

To the voiceless abandoned babies of China. This is my song for you.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen

And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

— Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

PART ONE

The Butterfly Kite

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.

—A Chinese proverb

CHAPTER 1 October 2000

The stage lights were dazzling, the drumbeats victorious, the cheering intoxicating. They exploded as though they had lain in wait throughout the years it had taken Nola to get here. She clutched the microphone, and her voice lifted above the ceremonial courtyard of the Supreme Harmony Palace, above the audience of thousands with rapture in their eyes. Yesss. These people were hers, and she was theirs. Here in the Forbidden City, she stood on the very spot where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties had exhorted, decreed and ordained. But while the emperors’ words had instilled fear, her songs released joy.

“We are tall, we are short, we’re black, we’re white,

We are blessed or are cursed by fate or birthright.

But the whole world over,

Peace is the color of a dove,