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    The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel
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    The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel
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    The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel

    Written by Kim Fay

    Narrated by Karyn O'Bryant

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel by an American Author

    In 1925 the international treasure-hunting scene is a man's world, and no one understands this better than Irene Blum, who is passed over for a coveted museum curatorship because she is a woman. Seeking to restore her reputation, she sets off from Seattle in search of a temple believed to house the lost history of Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilization. But her quest to make the greatest archaeological discovery of the century soon becomes a quest for her family's secrets. Embracing the colorful and corrupt world of colonial Asia in the early 1900s, The Map of Lost Memories takes readers into a forgotten era where nothing is as it seems. As Irene travels through Shanghai's lawless back streets and Saigon's opium-filled lanes, she joins forces with a Communist temple robber and an intriguing nightclub owner with a complicated past. What they bring to light deep within the humidity-soaked Cambodian jungle does more than change history. It ultimately solves the mysteries of their own lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 21, 2012
    ISBN9780449011454
    Unavailable
    The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Map of Lost Memories

    3.5/5

    126 ratings41 reviews

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    • 5/5
      "The one thing to remember about an adventure is that if it turns out the way you expect it to, it has not been an adventure at all." - THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIESThe adventure begins in Shanghai in 1925. Irene Blum, passed over for her expected promotion to the curatorship of the Brooke Museum in Seattle, has arrived to meet Simone Merlin and recruit her on a mission to recover scrolls that will illuminate the history of the mysterious Khmer. Irene's father had bequeathed a letter proving the existence of the scrolls to Irene's mentor, Mr. Simms, who presents this evidence to Irene when she leaves the museum in fury. Along for the ride are Marc Rafferty, recommended by Mr. Simms, and Simone's recruit, Louis Lafont, a competitor of Irene's. Naturally, everyone has ulterior motives and secrets, which just keeps things interesting. Running underneath the story (and bubbling to the surface) is the colonial attitude of ownership in another country's treasures and questions of a country's right to control its own history.Fay evokes her settings (Shanghai, Saigon, and, finally, Cambodia) with rich prose:"Breathing in the scent of fish drifting on a current of lemongrass and star anise, she felt her strength begin to return. And it amazed her that somehow, despite how this part of the world wearied her, it also gave her sustenance--just to stand in the middle of it, sheltered from the midday sun by the flaming petals of a coral tree."Along with the spices, Irene and Simone breathe in the history and culture of Cambodia, and it is a heady brew. The sense of place and time and culture is well-balanced. The only sour note for me was the relationship between Marc and Irene. He irritated me - much more Kate Capshaw than Karen Allen - and the romance, compared to the mystery and adventure, simply wasn't that interesting. But then, I've never found the love interest component in adventure novels or movies to be the most compelling part; if that's something you enjoy, simply ignore my mild complaint.Adventure, betrayal, mystery, history, culture, and exotic locations - an excellent way to pass the time. I recommend THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIES to anyone who loved Indiana Jones films but wished they had a woman at the center.Source disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program.
    • 4/5
      Irene Blum's world is falling apart. Certain that she's going to be appointed curator of the museum where she works when her mentor retires, she's devastated when the board appoints someone else instead of her. Though it's 1925 and the position of women is uncertain, Irene thought that her hard work and determination over the course of her life would pay off. Then her mentor, Henry Simms, gives her a task; go to Cambodia and find ten copper scrolls that depict the history of the Khmer people. Irene has always loved Cambodia and learning that her parents were there before gives her a new incentive to go. Armed with knowledge and taking a few people with her along the way, Irene's journey is about more than ten scrolls; it's about finding a purpose in her life beyond a single museum.I heard quite a bit about this book when it came out and I was really looking forward to reading it for its UK paperback release, which took place last week. I mean, it sounds fascinating and has some of my favorite elements; it's historical fiction, centered around museums and exciting artifacts, and had the potential to delve into the history of the Khmer people. I've never been to Cambodia or to see Angkor Wat, the legendary temple complex that they built, but it's on my wishlist of places I'd love to go, and so the setting was bound to captivate me. And while that happened, what was lacking for me was the characters.The main character, Irene, does visibly grow and change over the course of the novel. Her life doesn't go as she expected, and rather than break, she bends and grows stronger because of it. Her plan falls apart, so she puts together a new plan and forges forward. Despite this, though, I never felt that I liked her very much, nor did I really feel for any of the other characters. I got the feeling that certain revelations were meant to be deep and insightful, but I wasn't there with the characters. I was never quite interested enough in the outcome of the story to actually pick the book up when I wasn't already in a convenient position to do so. It was fine while I was reading it, but I wasn't drawn in, and I didn't feel that I was really experiencing an adventure story as I might have hoped.All that said, there are certainly great points to this novel, and it's been appreciated by plenty of other people. The writing is well done and I liked the atmosphere that it evoked, especially towards the end when Irene finally makes it to Cambodia. I think it's more a book about one woman's discovery, rather than quite what I'd expected. If you keep that in mind, I expect you'll enjoy The Map of Lost Memories a great deal more than I did.
    • 4/5
      Ahh! It's like Indiana Jones...female style! I was super excited to start this novel and I have to say, I was not one bit disappointed. I loved the time period this book was set in and I was astounding with the amount of background, history and life Fay injects into this novel. I appreciated being placed into a foreign setting written as beautifully as Fay describes Cambodia and Southeast Asia. I loved the character development, the journey, the experiences that Irene experiences.Overall, I'm way impressed with this novel and I look forward to reading more from the author!
    • 4/5
      I picked up "The Map of Lost Memories" by Kim Fay because I have a Cambodian friend and I was interested in learning more about her history and culture. I enjoyed this thoroughly and though I now find myself spending a lot of time on wikipedia and google to search out people and places and events from the story in order to further educate myself and find out what is fiction and what is fact, I can definitely recommend this as a starting point for those looking to learn in an enjoyable way.
    • 4/5
      A well constructed, well written and entertaining adventure story featuring museum assistant Irene Blum. Having missed out on a curatorship, Irene sets off on a hunt for Khmer treasures but discovers much more as her story unfolds in Shanghai, Vietnam and then Cambodia.
    • 4/5
      Irene Blum had what she thought was the stepping stone to her dream job. She was assistant curator at the Brooke Museum of Oriental Art when she finds herself out of a job due to a board that wants academic achievements not life experience. With no job prospects in hand she goes to work researching copper scrolls that may just hold the secrets of the Khmer.She heads off on an expedition to places such as Shaghai, Angkor Wat and other exotic locales with a suspicious female companion and a couple of additional searchers to find and decipher the scrolls. But is everyone working together to help Irene or are there separate agendas in play?This book had some good and some bad; the concept was really intriguing but would a woman had really been in the position of assistant curator to a museum like that in that time period? Character development is a bit thin as well as I didn't get to know many of the ancillary characters and didn't fully get to know the main ones. The suspense aspect was good, though and made for some fun twists and turns.
    • 4/5
      Irene Blum had worked as a museum assistant at the Brooke Museum of Oriental Art in Seattle for several years and had been promised the directorship by the retiring director. Alas, the year is 1925, and the board of directors had no interest in hiring an academically unqualified woman, no matter how experienced she was. Irene was also still young, in her late twenties. Single and left alone by the death of both her parents, Irene goes to work for Mr. Henry Simms to search for some missing copper scrolls in Cambodia's Angkor Wat. She journeys to Shanghai to await the arrival of the mysterious Simone, a Cambodian expert that Mr. Simms has picked to accompany her. After some adventures in Shanghai the pair embarks on a steamer for Vietnam and then journeys overland to Cambodia. A couple of men are added to the group as they go along. This novel has been compared to Dan Brown's Davinci Code, but the action is nowhere nearly as compelling or the suspense as taut. The subject matter is interesting, and I found the setting fascinating. The author obviously knows a lot about Asia and its art. I did find some of the dialog about Irene's loss of the museum directorship a bit unauthentic sounding. Had the book been set in the present it would have been perfect, but to hear a woman discussing in 1925 discussing the idea of a fulfilling career with a man seemed a little odd. But, Irene was no ordinary woman so it's possible such a conversation could have happened. I might label this book as a "cozy suspense novel". It's a good read, but you will be able to insert your bookmark and fall asleep easily after reading it before bedtime.
    • 3/5
      First let me say that this book has apparently been loved by many of its early readers, and I can see why. The descriptions of the physical settings are wonderful, some of the metaphors are lovely, the storyline is potentially great, and the characters are not one-sided. They are selfish and altruistic, greedy and idealistic, and altogether human.So, don't let my overall opinion put you off reading this book if you think it sounds like your kind of story. The book didn't work well for me because I never got drawn into the story. I never really cared about the characters. I can love characters or hate them, but I have to care about what happens to them, good or bad, and I didn't. I didn't really care if those dang scrolls were ever found. And, although I hate to say it, I found myself bored. The strong points of the novel never outweighed the weak ones for me. So, in the end, a pleasant enough read but not the entertainment that I expected of a novel.Thank you to the publisher and LibraryThing for providing an advance readers copy for my review.
    • 3/5
      *I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*A historical adventure tale, reminiscent of Indiana Jones, takes the reader to 1920s Shanghai and then to Cambodia in search of evidence of the ancient Khmer civilization. Irene Blum, an American museum curator, was passed up for a promotion and instead embarked on a quest to find a Khmer temple deep in the jungle of Cambodia and the copper scrolls allegedly kept there that tell the history of an ancient empire. She is joined by a group of people with varying motivates and schemes, some of which may be working against her and her discovery. A fun read and a good diverse set of characters, all of whom seem to be connected, but I wish the author had provided more information about the ancient Khmer civilization.
    • 3/5
      Irene Blum has just been passed over for the only position she feels qualified for, as the curator of the Brooke museum where she was basically raised. To prove her worth and qualification as a curator, she heads to Cambodia to solve a centuries old mystery surrounding the fall of the Khmer empire and find out truths about her history as well.While the setting and ambiance of The Map of Lost Memories is compelling, set amidst the communist revolution of Shanghai, China and the French colonial invasion of Cambodia, ultimately the plot does not live up to the setting. The characters are fairly one dimensional, swinging from emotion to emotion with little motivation, and the "mystery" that supposedly propels the story falls very flat. Very disappointing, as it had much promise.
    • 3/5
      As much as I enjoy historical fiction, The Map of Lost Memories was a fairly large disappointment. Irene Blum has just been passed over for the curator position at the Brooke museum where she has dedicated her life to the renewal and advance of the museum. Among her dead father's treasures is a map that will lead her to Camboida in search of value copper scrolls.I found the book hard to get into and didn't keep my attention enough to finish it. Perhaps another time or maybe it just isn't my cup of tea.
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to like this book. The premise behind the book is intriguing -- what really happened to the civilization that created Angkor Wat? However, this book just wallowed. The characters spent 3/4 of the book discussing going to Cambodia, and then once they got there, they wallowed around some more. I finally got so frustrated I didn't care what happened at the end! I also found the repeated plotlines related to Communism to be misplaced and drew attention away from the "original" plot.
    • 4/5
      I liked The Map of Lost Memories very much. The author captured the flavor of 1925 Shanghai very well. The book is historical fiction with action, romance and adventure, and a treasure hunt interwoven throughout. Compelling, strong characters and an impressive plot line make this book a must-read and the ending leaves the door wide open for a follow-up book or books.
    • 4/5
      This is a story that is a blend of historical fiction, greed, determination, women making waves, anger, finger-pointing, and tied with an ending that just left me sitting there with my mouth hanging open.Irene is a young woman who has spent years making a museum all it can be, silently permitting a man to take all the credit, knowing one day her time will come. But instead of being named the next curator, she's cast out...all because she is a woman.She has one chance to take the world by storm: find some copper scrolls in Cambodia. It's ancient history, and valuable in so many ways.Enter Marc, Simone, Louis, and numerous other people as the journey commences from Shanghai to Cambodia. There's angry tribemen, a dying man,government officials needing to be bought, drug use, arguments, the jungle, secrets of the past unveiled, and all the while Irene comes to realize a stunning moral: You can spend the rest of your life always searching and wanting more or you can be happy with your life as it is.Simone wants the scrolls to start a revolution. Louis says he wants them for Cambodia. Irene wanted them for herself. The tension mounts as they continue to argue and though they are working together, they are also racing against each other.It was intense and a perfect blend of history and fantasy and heart-stopping moments. I'd give it a five but I was really put off by Simone.Great quote: "loneliness is not about what happens when you are alone but about what happens when you are with others."
    • 3/5
      If you are someone who goes on vacation and spends all of your time behind the camera viewfinder, this is not the book for you. Reading this is a contemplative journey where you will experience sights and sounds and tastes. If you are in a hurry to see everything you will miss the best of this novel. Fay has written a novel where the adventure and mayhem serves as the background for the true main character--location, location, location.It is evident that author Kim Fay knows Cambodia and Southeast Asia very well. Her descriptions of the culture and landscape are captivating and I found myself re-reading many passages, adjusting the greens here, the smell of the streets there. Her main character, Irene Blum, has been passed over for a deserved promotion and heads off to Cambodia to find some historical scrolls. Her motivation is really to show everyone that she has the chops as a woman in 1925, to do so. And she does have the chops. But this is where the novel became a bit disjointed for me. Lush travelogue or adventure escapade? Fay attempts both and she succeeds with lush travelogue. The adventure scenes are okay, and there is a back story that begs to be told as a prequel as well as a an opening for a sequel. By the last part of the novel, the adventure flows and meshes with the surroundings. Fay throws in a bit of moral debate regarding the rightful owners of such undiscovered antiquities that is well placed and thought provoking. I look forward to Fay's continued development of what I hope is a series of Ms. Blum's adventures. This is a review of a copy received from LibraryThing.
    • 4/5
      Nineteen twenty-five Shanghai. Four words that evoke mystery and danger and Bad Women.And it's in the Shanghai of 1925 that Kim Fay's 'The Map of Lost Memories' begins its trek. Irene Blum, a disgraced museum curator, arrives in Shanghai seeking an accomplice in her search for ancient scrolls. (Indy, where are you when we need you?) It's a simple matter of recruiting temple-robber Simone Merlin to brave the jungles of Cambodia and retrieve the scrolls rumored to hold the history of the Khmer empire.Along the way the seekers expand to include Irene's lover, her dying benefactor, and most threatening, a native tribe determined to keep what is theirs.In order for a plot driven novel like this to work,, it has to move fast, so fast that the reader doesn't have time to stop and notice the great suspension of disbelief required. Ms Fay just didn't move fast enough for me.
    • 4/5
      Irene Blum works at the Brooke Museum for Oriental Art in Seattle and has nursed a passion for the ancient Khmer civilisation of Cambodia her entire life, since she was a little girl growing up in the museum where her father was the nightwatchman. Having to deal with a professional disappointment, she decides to find a lost temple in the Cambodian jungle, along with its ten copper scrolls said to contain a history of the Khmer, with the help of an old diary and map and the support of Mr Simms, her guardian and parents' friend. He sends her off to China, which is in the grip of the Second Chinese Revolution (1925), to enlist the help of Frenchwoman Simone, another expert on the Khmer. Together they make plans to set out into the jungle on the expedition of a lifetime, but things do not go as expected ...I jumped at the chance to review this book, which was "listed as one of Amazon's top 100 Breakthrough Novels before it was even finished", and which promised evocative settings and "extraordinary" prose, not to mention an opportunity to meet a female Indiana Jones. One reason I love participating in the Vine programme is that I feel free to try books that lie outside my usual sphere of reading interests, and this was one of them. Set in exotic locations such as Shanghai, Saigon and Phnom Penh, and in a time period that I know next to nothing about, this felt like a journey into the unknown. The first few chapters set the scene and introduce the protagonists, but there was little evidence of the extraordinary prose that had been promised, and they seemed to drag, as there was a lot of dialogue and description, but not much happening. The introduction of the love interest was done in quite a dilettante and obvious way and showed the author's lack of experience in my opinion (this is her first novel). After about 50 pages her style became more confident, the prose more refined and her characters more complex and credible. Kim Fay's descriptions of the various locations are very atmospheric, and I could feel the heat and humidity and experience the melting pot of cultures in Shanghai and Saigon and the unearthly beauty of the lost temple complex in the jungle. The author explores the profound effect the search for the lost scrolls is having on each of the protagonist's characters and the volatile personal relationships that develop in the course of the expedition, as well as the explosive political situations in China and Cambodia, yet I could never quite root for any of the characters, and the only time real suspense was created in my opinion was when the expedition was facing the dangers of the Cambodian jungle and the hostilities of a remote mountain tribe. Highly ambitious and incredibly well researched, the novel is more concerned with the journey rather than the destination, but the ending was a little bit too neat in my opinion. For a first novel, though, this is an excellent effort, and I'm certain Kim Fay's name will be one to watch.(This review was originally written as part of Amazon's Vine programme.)
    • 5/5
      Dan brown look out! This was really an amazing ride for a first novel. I didn't want to put it down. I like her writing style much better than Dan Browns and she filled her pages with just as much adventure. I knew very little about Cambodia before reading this and now find myself "googling" Cambodia all the time. I will be very surprised if this doesn't become a best seller right off.
    • 5/5
      In 1925 Irene Blum, assitant curator of the Brooke Museum of Oriental Art in Seattle, puts together an expedition to Cambodia in search of a set of copper scrolls that may explain the demise of the Khmer culture, and that would be the culmination of her life's dream. But it is also the life's dream of the volatile Simone Merlin. Can Irene trust Simone? Can she trust the other members of the expedition - Louis, Simone's former lover, and Marc, with whom she feels herself falling in love? What are their motives for joining the expedition? What about Henry Simms, her mentor, who has manipulated the entire affair as he is dying of cancer, and who has his own reasons for bringing the members of the expedition together?This was a great adventure story, yet there was more to it than that as Irene uncovers parts of her own past, and the stories of the characters smoothly intertwine.I loved The Map of Lost Memories! Not only was it a cracking good adventure with some very interesting characters, but I feel that I learned a bit about the Cambodian people, and the Khmer.
    • 5/5
      When Irene Blum is passed over as head curator of the Brook Museum, she can’t believe it. For years she has waited and worked with this goal in mind. But in 1925 a woman was unlikely to be promoted in spite of her expertise and the reputation she has made for the museum. She returns home from the meeting to find her mentor and old family friend Henry Simms waiting for her. He had rescued her mother when she was Kidnapped in Manila while pregnant with Irene, and had remained friends with her father until his death 6 months previously. Now he gives her a book written in 1825 which implies that the person writing it has seen some copper scrolls in a village temple 27 days travel beyond Angor Wat which tell the history of the Khmer people. Written 40 years before Angkor Wat was first sighted, finding them again would be a major coup. It would prove to the museum trustees that they had been wrong to pass over her for someone else. Irene wants to be the one to find these scrolls and Mr Simms agrees to finance the expedition.“He was a strategist, a mastermind. He did nothing that was not thoroughly planned, and as she clutched the brittle newspaper clippings, the possibility of something bigger than she has anticipated swelled, unformed, into the room.” How prophetic this sentence (which the author drops in early in the book) was.So Irene travels to Shanghai to mount an expedition to Cambodia with a few names Simms has given her of people who may be able to help. Soon she finds herself in the middle of intrigue: many people would like to find the scrolls and she’s never sure who to trust or what their motives might be. There are many twists in the plot as Irene heads into the jungle in search of the scrolls. She must try to figure out who is telling her the truth, what motivations others have in the search, and what to ultimately do if she does find the scrolls.The book made me think of an Indiana Jones movie/adventure. It takes place in an exotic location and the author does a good job of presenting 1920s Asia. The descriptions of Shanghai and Cambodia were so good I could almost feel the humidity in the air, smell the jungle, and hear exotic voices. Although there are multiple twists in the plot, the author has woven them together seamlessly. I look forward to her next novel.
    • 4/5
      Set in the 1920's, The Map of Lost Memories follows Irene on her journey from hopeful museum curator, to Shanghai, to Cambodia where she leads a team of friends and colleagues in search of a lost relic, Indiana Jones style. This book wasn't heavy on the action until the end, but I was never bored. I liked Irene's determination and her self confidence--she was a very real character, and worked through her flaws well. I enjoyed watching her change and grow as a person throughout this journey.Irene's biggest challenge was working with Simone Merlin, wife of a would-be Communist revolutionary, who also has a great passion for Cambodia, having grown up there. Simone was the perfect mix of spoiled rich woman, drug addict, and passionate explorer. At first she was alluring and then she was annoying, and I couldn't wait to see what kind of trouble she'd cause next.The pace was good and the detail was enough to help me visualize, but I wasn't bogged down by it. One part that did make me roll my eyes was Irene's instant connection to Marc (her love interest), and how they knew they were "meant for each other." Other than that, I found this book to be a great mix of personal growth, love, action and Cambodian scenery and history. I'd definitely recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Interesting for its description of and information about the Khmer civilization of Cambodia. Character studies excellent. I think that part of the problem is the book is sometimes touted as a mystery (not much) more than a book that is just tough to categorize. It is about history; it is also the story of one woman’s transformation; some have called it a romance (huh?). Books like this are like movies like this. People avoid what is hard to pigeonhole or maybe they just prefer simple.
    • 5/5
      "’The one thing to remember about an adventure is that if it turns out the way you expect it to, it has not been an adventure at all.’"

      The Map of Lost Memories is definitely one of the most wonderful adventures. Deeply atmospheric, and both emotionally moving and challenging. This is one of those novels that I just want to sink into like a bubble bath and not come back to the real world until I’m soaked through and steamy like a content little prune.

      Irene, the acting curator of the Brooke Museum in Seattle has just lost the promotion she thought for sure was hers. Out to prove she “has what it takes”, she follows the bread crumbs left to her by her recently deceased father, as well as a dying mentor, to what she hopes is a world-changing treasure in southeast Asia. But she’ll need the help of several new, and untrustworthy, friends to get there… and they’re all out for their own agenda.

      I’ve read this book twice now, which is unusual for me – I don’t usually enjoy a novel the second time around – and loved every minute of it both times. Author Kim Fay is a magician with words – describing an atmosphere in Asia both magical and oppressive. Her descriptions are so evocative that you can almost feel the humidity of the tropics trickling down your neck. And it doesn’t hurt that the novel is set in 1925 – a pivotal time period in the hunt for historical treasures.

      If I had one complaint it would be that I really don’t care for the cover art on the original 2012 edition, however I see that at least two additional covers have been used for English printings (in 2012 and 2013), both of which are much more representative of the magic and adventure of this tale.

      Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction, literary fiction, book clubs, and adventure lovers. It’s been out for several years now (published in 2012), but I hope you’ll pick it up and discover something new and wonderful. If you do, drop me a Comment below and let me know what you thought of Kim Fay’s The Map of Lost Memories.
    • 5/5
      This book, The Map of Lost Memories, reads like a favorite classic old movie; think Casablanca, written with such texture that you can feel the suffocating steam rise deep in the Cambodian jungle. It is an adventure, mystery with an undercurrent of romance set in 1925. Irene Blum is a young woman from Seattle Washington, who has been working for the Brooke Museum specializing in exotic oriental artifacts. Irene leaves Seattle to find some ancient bronze scrolls that are rumored to hold the history of Cambodia’s Khmer empire. She stops in Singapore to enlist the help of Simone Merlin, a mysterious Temple robber who grew up in the area where the scrolls are supposedly be hidden. Right from the beginning there are problems: betrayals, unclear motives, and a murder and they haven’t even reached the jungle. The cast of characters will keep you guessing as the author skillfully unravels their personal histories. I’m giving this one 5 stars for a story that captivated me from chapter one right up to its satisfying conclusion. I thought about it for days and hope there is a sequel. Advanced readers proof from Amazon Vine program.
    • 3/5
      First I won an finished copy from Goodreads.com. The book looked intriguing and was listed as an Edgar Finalist.

      Set in the 1920's with a female antagonist working in the mans world of archeology. Fired from her job she sets out to find the lost scrolls of Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilization with the help of her mothers diaries. She travels from Seattle to Southeast Asia to bring much needed respect for her work and her abilities. Archeology during this time period is more like treasure hunting and robbing cultures of their past. Her adventures take her on a journey not only for the scrolls but to the truth of her own families past. Irene carefully travels through the lawless streets of Shanghai and the opium filled lanes of Saigon into the jungles of Cambodia. She joins forces with a Communist temple robber and a secretive nightclub owner.

      The book is filled with many twist and turns and a diverse mix of characters. It is worth a look for fans of historical fiction and the Southeast Asia culture.
    • 5/5
      Exquisite prose and storytelling. You can almost feel the humidity and smells of Shanghai and feel the ants biting in the jungles of Cambodia as you are pulled through a suspenseful hunt by four people to find the ultimate treasure. Kim Fay's descriptions of what it was to live moment by moment was like being transported onto a movie set of the 1940's.

      There were so many beautiful quotes in this book. I tried looking for a few but found only one.

      "I'm thankful every day for the moment of recklessness. How else would I ever have made it to the other side?"

      "What do you mean, the other side?"

      "The place where all they do is long to sleep so they can dream about living".

      A sequel would be nice... :D

    • 2/5
      I love the premise and storyline, but the book just fell short of what it could have been. The characters should have been more richly developed, as they were the story - motivations, pasts, present, directions, etc.
    • 3/5
      Kim Fay, a first time novelist, has written a fun adventure story with a plucky female heroine and Cambodia as the setting. Set in 1925 amidst the international treasure-hunting world, Irene Blum, passed over for a coveted museum curatorship due to her gender, seeks to restore her reputation by setting off in search of a temple believed to house the lost history of Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilization. There are lots of exotic details here -- criminals in the backstreets, opium addicts, shadowy nightclub owners, lots of humidity-soaked linen and sweat-streaked colonials. There is murder. Spousal abuse. Communists. And the pace, although slow in the start, picks up by the middle of the book.It's a good first novel, but there are flaws. The author seems to be trying very hard to mix the DaVinci Code with Raiders of the Lost Ark. It all feels a bit forced, as though she had her eye more on a movie deal than literature. The characters don't quite elicit the required sympathy, and some of the psychological responses seem false and the plot twists contrived. Still, some of the writing is quite lyrical. I'd love to see what she might do with a more character driven-less plot driven novel. It's the language which earned the book a third star.
    • 4/5
      This is a very well written first novel adventure which will appeal to women. Similar to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and the works of Dan Brown. Many unfolding developments, strong plot and a well developed list of characters. There will eventually be a sequel and another novel in between.
    • 2/5
      "The Map of Lost Memories" seemed to have the right ingredients - Shanghai, 1925, treasure hunt, Cambodia.....but the book just didn't work for me. Parts of the last third were well done, but even the climax fell short. I read descriptions of this book claiming that it was "character driven". Maybe so, but I didn't care for any of the characters. The protagonist, Irene, doesn't get the key job at her Seattle based museum and she walks out in a huff. Her mentor, Mr Simms, offers to sponsor an expedition to Cambodia to pursue a rumored history of the Khmer people etched on ten copper scrolls. The story starts satisfyingly enough in Shanghai but seems to fall short early on. There is a lot of sermonizing among 4 or 5 principal characters debating their responsibilities with respect to cultural artifacts. On the one hand Irene condemns the colonial powers who have stripped their subject countries of ancient treasures while at the same time she plots to liberate scrolls from Cambodia as a way of restoring her reputation in the museum world. At times, the book reminded me of one of those zealots who attempts to sell a personal philosophy by building a novel around a point of view. Well, too oten "The Map...." was repetitious, boring and preachy, but most of all dull. I am disappointed, bu no surprised, to read that this was an Edgar finalist.