Jun 12, 2025
Matt Crawford speaks with author Christina Li about her debut
adult novel, The Manor of Dreams. Vivian Yin is dead. The first
Chinese actress to win an Oscar, the trailblazing ingénue rose to
fame in the eighties, only to disappear from the spotlight at the
height of her career to live out the rest of her life as a
recluse.
Now her remaining family members are gathered for the reading of
her will, and her daughters expect to inherit their childhood home:
Vivian’s grand, sprawling, Southern California garden estate. But
due to a last-minute change to the will, the house is passed on to
another family instead—one that has suddenly returned after decades
of estrangement.
In hopes of staking their claim, both families move into the
mansion. As Vivian’s daughters race to piece together what happened
in the last weeks of their mother’s life, disturbing visions and
bizarre behaviors start to take hold of everyone in the house,
forcing them to realize they are being haunted by something far
more sinister and vengeful than their regrets. After so many years
of silence, will the families finally confront the painful truth
behind the house’s origins and the last, tragic summer they spent
there—or will they cling to their secrets until it’s too late?
Told in dual timelines, spanning three generations, and brimming
with romance, betrayal, ambition, and sacrifice, The Manor of Dreams is a thrilling
family gothic that examines the true cost of the American Dream—and
what happens when the roots we set down in this country turn to
rot.