Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Map of Lost Memories-Kim Fay

The Map of Lost Memories


Kim Fay

Ballantine, Aug 21 2012, $26.00

ISBN: 9780345531346



In 1925, twenty-nine year old unhappy Irene Blum feels that her superiors take her for granted while enforcing the glass ceiling after she fails to obtain the position of curator at the Brooke Museum that she knows she earned with stronger credentials than the chosen male. Henry Simms persuades Blum to resign as he convinces her to travel to Shanghai where she needs scholarly revolutionist Simone Merlin to help her find 10 ancient Khmer scrolls. If successful, Blum will receive the acclaim she deserves and can become curator of her own museum.



Fleeing Chinese authorities following a bloody incident, Blum leads her team (Merlin, Simms, Irene’s companion Marc Rafferty and others) to Cambodia and the dangerous jungle. However, each member of the unit has a different secret agenda when it comes to obtaining and using the artifacts while Cambodian heritage protectionists stalk Blum and her cohorts.



This is an exciting historical thriller that brings to life China and Cambodia at a time when the West was still raiding national treasures. Mindful of Indiana Jones though a decade earlier as a peer of Howard Carter’s King Tut tomb find, none of the adventurers have altruistic motives to locate the artifacts. Readers will enjoy this terrific treasure hunt as Blum discovers more than just the Khmer copper scrolls.



Harriet Klausner



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