LiveWorld Transcripts

Borders.com presents

Author Judith Michael
"A Certain Smile"

May 07, 1999

Judith Michael's trademark storytelling verve combined with fascinating settings and characters who live on the page have won this husband-and-wife team an audience of millions. Their tenth novel, “A Certain Smile,” is a bittersweet story of a perfect but impossible love, set against the teeming, complex energy and hidden dangers of contemporary China.

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NetCafeLive: Welcome to NetCafeLive Borders NetCafeLive is a joint production of Borders.com(tm) & Talk City(tm), a Talk City, Inc. Production. Tonight's guest is Judith Michael, here to talk about her new book, "A Certain Smile"

CCCheer: It's great to have you with us Judith, could you tell us about the book "A Certain Smile"?

Judith Michael: "A Certain Smile" is first and foremost a love story. But also a story of two systems of government and two people who have to learn to adjust to so many difference, Miranda is an American Fashion Designer in China on business, and Li is a Construction Engineer in China. When they meet, the differences between their two countries, their two governments and their own personalities makes sparks fly every time they get together.

CCCheer: The book seems so real and close to the heart. Did you ever visit China?

Judith Michael: Yes, we were in China for three weeks during our principle research, and we had done a lot of other research through books and talking with China experts, and Chinese people. We also love Chinese food. The main thing is the people we talk to who both live in China or who left China all knew things about the country or people that you often can't get in books. So we think there is more about the real, everyday China than people will get in newspapers or magazines. And maybe we can get people to understand this incredibly fascinating country a little better.

CCCheer: Can you tell us about how Miranda and Li meet?

Judith Michael: Miranda and Li meet in the Beijing Airport, when Miranda is battling a line of pushing Chinese to get a taxicab. And Li sees her dilemma and goes to aid her and helps her to get a taxi. They share a cab ride into the city and that's how they meet. It's a pure chance meeting. Miranda is a person who has never been away from home, and very frightened about anything that is unfamiliar and especially the Chinese language. The Chinese crowds can be quite daunting to an American who comes from a small town. Miranda felt quite threatened, and literally had no idea what to do. Li came and showed her how to deal with crowds. The crowds in China are very hard to fathom, there is no space on the streets at all. Americans are used to space, so what Li did was show her how the Chinese create space, even in a mob of people, and keep some privacy. That was her first lesson about China and her introduction to Li.

GLTLKREW: How do you create space in a mob?

Judith Michael: First, let me say that the Chinese feel no problem in pushing their bodies up against your body together in a crowded scene. They make space using elbows, hips, knees and whatever body parts they can use to create a little space around them. But a much smaller space than Americans would create among themselves if in the same situation. The other thing they do is turn inward. They seldom look straight at another person. Their eyes are looking down. They are only focused on themselves.

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