A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson

Surprisingly (and disappointingly), Eva’s story is lacking in cycling and exciting exploits. In 1923, Evangeline (Eva) English accompanies her fragile sister, Lizzie, on a missionary trip to the ancient Chinese-ruled Muslim city of Kashgar under the supervision of the stern Millicent Frost, who suspects, accurately, that Eva, with her prized bicycle-a “glorious, green BSA Lady’s Roadster”-and passion for writing, is more interested in adventure than proselytizing. Present and past meld into an exploration of conflicting traditions in an impressive debut that shifts smoothly between 1920s Turkestan and present-day England. Norman Powers - New York Journal of Books Joinson succeeds in keeping us moving and takes us to places very far away before we reach the end of this immensely satisfying story. Joinson layers her basic narrative with references to religious hypocrisy, cultural ignorance and sexual gamesmanship, throwing in for good measure Arabic ornithological mythology, bicycling tips for the novice female rider, and the dangers of cult worship. there is so much here that is wonderful: the author’s crisp, uncluttered story-telling, her graceful prose, and her ability to inhabit the character of a young woman in 1924 and a contemporary young woman with equal depth and ease. It takes less than a page for Suzanne Joinson to seize your attention…. Sara Wheeler - New York Times Book Review

Through Frieda and Eva and their companions, Joinson explores notions of freedom, rootlessness, dislocation – any writer’s reliable arsenal.

Joinson also has a gift for evoking finely calibrated shifts of feeling… illuminates her narrative with a playfulness that borders on the Gothic…. Joinson, who has herself traveled widely on behalf of the British council, controls her narrative with skill: this is an impressive debut, its prose as lucid and deep as a mountain lake.

The dramatic opening of Suzanne Joinson’s thrilling and densely plotted first novel offers only a suggestion of the tumult to come….

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson