Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

By: Dorothy Gilman

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Posing as a tourist, Emily makes her way to China with the job of protecting a CIA treasure.

©1983 Dorothy Gilman Butters (P)1990 Recorded Books, LLC

Delightful!

In this sixth adventure of Mrs. Pollifax, she is sent by Mr.Carstairs, her CIA boss, on a tour of the People's Republic of China with the objective of locating a particular man in a particular barber shop in a warren of alleyways outside the walls of a historic Chinese city. Once she finds the man, she is to attempt to get information from him about the exact location of a particular work camp where dissidents are held.

Written in 1983, this book deals with China in a period of very tense relations between the US and China, when the Chinese government kept an iron fist over the Chinese people, and foreign tourism was tightly restricted. As a result, a large part of Mrs. P's mission was to get away from the tour long enough to locate the man in question, get the information from him, and get back to the tour group without being caught in any suspicious behavior. Then she was supposed to hand the information over to another member of her tour group and her mission was finished. Of course, Emily Pollifax can never simply do her job and withdraw -- she will always want to help any person who could use assistance. And so she gets more deeply involved than was intended.

One of the best parts of Mrs. Pollifax stories is not the mission she is sent on, but the people she encounters and becomes friends with. In this book, the members of her tour group are a varied bunch of Americans, and there is a lot of personal emotion going on in the group. Mrs. P becomes personally involved with several of the group, advising young people about relationships, and not-so-young people about life in general. She forms an emotional attachment to the young American agent she was sent to help, and as a result becomes more emotionally involved than in some other adventures.

Emily Pollifax is such a delightful, amusing and caring little old lady that the books written about her are warm, funny, suspenseful and heartwarming all at the same time. They always provide a lovely escape from the everyday lives we lead.

As usual, Barbara Rosenblat is amazing in narration, providing Emily with the absolutely perfect sweet little old lady voice while also providing spot-on portrayals of Americans fvrom various regions of the country and of Chinese characters, both male and female. If you see Mrs. P books read by someone else, avoid them -- only Rosenblat will do!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

21 of 21 people found this review helpful

Love this series

I thoroughly enjoy this series especially with B. Rosenblat as the narrator. She captures the characters and atmosphere beautifully.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

China meets Mrs. Pollifax

Mrs. Pollifax goes to China - and manages to make friends even with the police! She is supposed to help another agent free someone from a labor camp and get them out of the country. A tall order, but Mrs. P is determined not to let Carstairs down. Mayhem and mirth ensue. And Mrs. Pollifax, as usual, goes far beyond her mission objectives. Well worth the credit!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

China

It is amazing to me that I can listen to certain stories over. I usually can't stand that except for a very few writers. The Mrs Pollifax series is one such set. I love her read of people, her ability to tackle problems quickly and accurately.
If you haven't met her, you won't be disappointed when you do!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Superb story & narrator!!!

I absolutely love this series! Dorothy Gilman writes with believable characters and great storyline. I love the humor, intrigue, and twists in the plot. I love that her characters seem to come to life and display a gamut of emotions through the series. Each book flows seamlessly into the next.

Narrator has become one of my absolute favorites! Barbara stays consistent to each character. She is like a chameleon with her many voices. Her "acting" draws me into the story.

This book series should be produced as a TV series. It would be prime time series in no time especially if Barbara continued as narrator.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Even better than the first in this series

A great travel adventure with the perfect amount of character development and setting descriptions. No language or sex scenes, just missions and plot. Very pleasant and appropriate narration.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonderful Series

Just recently discovered Mrs. Pollifax in Audible Books and I 've enjoyed every story. The narrator is superb and the stories are intelligent and intriguing! Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station is fascinating, full of character development, stunning description of the land and culture and insight into the politics at the time the story takes place. Looking forward to Mrs. Pollifax' next adventure. Excellent story; excellent series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Old Fashioned, But I Liked It.

Any additional comments?

I really like the Mrs. Pollifax books, but they are weirdly old-fashioned, so if that's a problem for you, you won't like this series. The politics are out of date, the CIA guy is a one dimensional stereotype, and most of the female characters are silly and act like they don't have control over anything, although that may be made worse by the breathy way the narrator voices them. But I like this series, Mrs. Pollifax and the stories. This one is exciting because you can imagine the consequences of getting caught doing anything you shouldn't in China at the time this was written.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Mrs Polifax is one of my favorites

As all of her other books in this series it is excellant or I wouldn't be listening time and again

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great book

another wonderful installment in the Mrs Pollifax series. These are written in the 70 and are timeless.
this time She is off to China to help Mr X escape.

this one was one of the best in the series.