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Foreign Seed
74th National Jewish Book Awards Finalist - Goldberg Prize for Debut Fiction
Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice
Equal parts mystery and epic novel inspired by historical events, Foreign Seed plunges readers into the search for a man who seems to vanish out of thin air.
China, June 1918.
When the explorer Frank Meyer suddenly disappears from a ferry on the Yangtze River, American Vice-Consul Samuel Sokobin is tasked with finding the missing man. By the time Sokobin receives the case, four days have passed since Meyer was last seen on the vast river. With no clues to guide his search and fearing failure in his new post as a man of rank, Sokobin heads upriver with Mr. Lin, a Chinese interpreter he’s never met. The investigation soon turns deeply personal for Sokobin, who can’t help but conflate Meyer’s fate with that of his own daring younger brother—a fighter pilot gone MIA in the world war. As Sokobin continues to search for answers, this mental connection threatens to break him, and he’s forced to contend with the biggest question of what do we do when the answers we most desperately seek are the very ones that elude us?
A sweeping tale of loss and grief, Foreign Seed is a moving testament to friendship, faith, and the resilience of the human spirit. Allison Alsup’s exquisitely-researched debut novel will stay in readers’ hearts and minds long after they’ve turned the last page.
Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice
Equal parts mystery and epic novel inspired by historical events, Foreign Seed plunges readers into the search for a man who seems to vanish out of thin air.
China, June 1918.
When the explorer Frank Meyer suddenly disappears from a ferry on the Yangtze River, American Vice-Consul Samuel Sokobin is tasked with finding the missing man. By the time Sokobin receives the case, four days have passed since Meyer was last seen on the vast river. With no clues to guide his search and fearing failure in his new post as a man of rank, Sokobin heads upriver with Mr. Lin, a Chinese interpreter he’s never met. The investigation soon turns deeply personal for Sokobin, who can’t help but conflate Meyer’s fate with that of his own daring younger brother—a fighter pilot gone MIA in the world war. As Sokobin continues to search for answers, this mental connection threatens to break him, and he’s forced to contend with the biggest question of what do we do when the answers we most desperately seek are the very ones that elude us?
A sweeping tale of loss and grief, Foreign Seed is a moving testament to friendship, faith, and the resilience of the human spirit. Allison Alsup’s exquisitely-researched debut novel will stay in readers’ hearts and minds long after they’ve turned the last page.
267 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2024
7 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 24, 2024
Foreign Seed is a fascinating literary novel which revolves around the drowning death of US agricultural agent Frank Meyer in China, as well as the efforts of US vice council Samuel Sokobin to locate Meyers body somewhere on the Yangtze River and return it to Shanghai for burial. The novel is based upon the true disappearance of Myers on one of his expeditions in China on behalf of the United States, foreign seed organization, and Samuel Sokobin's exploits in trying to find the body. But that's not the gist of the story. While it is a very important part, this is more about discovery. It's about a discovery of one's inner self as Sukha been set off on his mission rack with worry and guilt about the safe of his brother Ethan, who was a pilot for the US Air Force during World War I. The book is set in 1918 and the world is weary of war. And while many books have been written, describing the experiences of the soldiers, this book takes a a soldiers fate can affect their friends, relatives or loved ones. One of the most interesting parts of this book is the fact that one of the main characters is cigarettes. and not just any cigarette, but Chesterfield cigarette. why Chesterfield? Well it was called the soldiers cigarette and after Ethan Sokobin went missing, Samuel Sokobin begins smoking the cigarettes as a way to relieve himself from all the attention that has built up due to his brothers disappearance over the English channel. Months have gone by no word has been heard from for about Ethan and has wrapped Samuel with major psychological problems. And they accompany him on his trip up the river. Luckily, he is assisted by a Chinese translator, Mr. Lin. And he also gets to examine how Mr. Lin is treated while traveling on the train together, I'm being denied at seat in First Class because Chinese may not sit in first class with English citizens, even though they have a seat for that compartment. But without Mr. Lin, this entire case would not be resolved, as Lin is able to discover the whereabouts of Frank Meyers body and then work out all the details for identification, as well as transportation back down the river towards Shanghai. Along the way Sokobin and Lin bond sometime over words and many times over actions. By the end of the book, you can see that they have become friends. This was a very easy read, filled with actual events that have been culled from history goes even deeper into the psyche of Samuel Sokobin. Author, Allison Allsup does a wonderful job of incorporating concept of ambiguous loss into her characters, as both Sokobin and Lin are both reeling from losses in World War I. We know Sokobin's brother has disappeared, but Lin's brother is in France and it appears that he has no desire to return to China when the war ends. so, in the end, we have a story of discovery, the discovery of the body of Frank Myers, as well as both Samuel Sokobin and Mr. Lin deal with their own personal problems. A very enjoyable read for me with rich characters and a plot line that makes everyone think about any ambiguous loss that might have occurred in our lives.
January 25, 2025
This was beautifully written, wistful and nostalgic. As someone who often feels out of place, a foreign seed in a land far from home, I really empathized with Sokobin.
Meyer is an explorer who actively seeks foreign seeds and new plant species to take back to the US, and is based on a real person who did go missing from a boat in 1918. Sokobin is based on another real life character, and is tasked with finding Meyer.
Sokobin feels uncomfortable with his promotion to a new role he’s not ready for, and doesn’t enjoy the deference he gets from his interpreter. He is aware that he’s an outsider in China, that he’s expected to speak and act in a certain way, even when he doesn’t want to, such as around a college friend turned oil baron. His college professor romanticized and idealized China, and that’s definitely not the China that Sokobin has experienced. He realizes that no matter how long he is in China, he’ll always be an outsider, and this leads to tension in his every day life.
Meyer is an explorer who actively seeks foreign seeds and new plant species to take back to the US, and is based on a real person who did go missing from a boat in 1918. Sokobin is based on another real life character, and is tasked with finding Meyer.
Sokobin feels uncomfortable with his promotion to a new role he’s not ready for, and doesn’t enjoy the deference he gets from his interpreter. He is aware that he’s an outsider in China, that he’s expected to speak and act in a certain way, even when he doesn’t want to, such as around a college friend turned oil baron. His college professor romanticized and idealized China, and that’s definitely not the China that Sokobin has experienced. He realizes that no matter how long he is in China, he’ll always be an outsider, and this leads to tension in his every day life.
April 12, 2024
Samuel Sokobin, an American vice-consul in Nanking, China, during World War I, is dispatched upriver to investigate the disappearance of a noted American explorer, Frank Meyer, in Allison Alsup’s “Foreign Seed,” a “Heart of Darkness” sort of dark exploration which she tells us in an afterward is based largely on fact and which I found to be utterly compelling.
Speculation is that Meyer fell overboard from a steamer where he was last seen, though it seems unlikely that so rugged an adventurer would fall victim to such a mishap. But there’s no indication of foul play, and suicide seems equally unlikely, though there are indications that he wasn’t feeling well and may have been depressed.
A disagreeable business all-round to have to be looking into, Sokobin feels, particularly when, in the novel’s strongest scene, he has to identify remains believed to be those of Meyer which have been buried without a coffin and which are in the state you might imagine. Plus he is dealing with his own demons, including an affair that went bad which I’d liked to have seen more of and news that his brother, a flier with a Yank squadron, has been reported missing in a reconnaissance flight.
“This putrid, Godforsaken war,” Sokobin thinks of the war which hovers in the background of this novel reminiscent of the works of Greene, Conrad or Orwell. Also very much in the background is the vile antisemitism of the day, which put me in mind of a movie which coincidentally I had just seen, “Train to Zakopané,” in which an otherwise very appealing young woman asserts that she "can smell a Jew a kilometer away," a sentiment voiced in Alsup’s novel when a character says that he would have known if Meyer were Jewish because “one can generally tell with Hebrews.”
All in all, one of the best books I’ve read in some time, Alsup’s novel, and one I can unqualifiedly recommend.
Speculation is that Meyer fell overboard from a steamer where he was last seen, though it seems unlikely that so rugged an adventurer would fall victim to such a mishap. But there’s no indication of foul play, and suicide seems equally unlikely, though there are indications that he wasn’t feeling well and may have been depressed.
A disagreeable business all-round to have to be looking into, Sokobin feels, particularly when, in the novel’s strongest scene, he has to identify remains believed to be those of Meyer which have been buried without a coffin and which are in the state you might imagine. Plus he is dealing with his own demons, including an affair that went bad which I’d liked to have seen more of and news that his brother, a flier with a Yank squadron, has been reported missing in a reconnaissance flight.
“This putrid, Godforsaken war,” Sokobin thinks of the war which hovers in the background of this novel reminiscent of the works of Greene, Conrad or Orwell. Also very much in the background is the vile antisemitism of the day, which put me in mind of a movie which coincidentally I had just seen, “Train to Zakopané,” in which an otherwise very appealing young woman asserts that she "can smell a Jew a kilometer away," a sentiment voiced in Alsup’s novel when a character says that he would have known if Meyer were Jewish because “one can generally tell with Hebrews.”
All in all, one of the best books I’ve read in some time, Alsup’s novel, and one I can unqualifiedly recommend.
June 15, 2024
With her highly acclaimed debut novel, Foreign Seed, Alison Alsup's fierce intellect, wellspring of creativity, and highly developed craft for story telling is on full display. The richly imaginative world and riveting characters she has created from the raw, rough-hew historical record is quite impressive. Readers will especially enjoy the artful, intimate way she peels back the layers of her story's protagonist, Samual Sokobin's, complex interior life. The way she allows the reader, in real-time, to listen-in on Sokobin's heart and mind's reaction to the wider, chaotic cauldron of historical affairs pressing in upon him from all sides.
Richard Russo was on to something when he remarked that Alsup's novel has "subtle, subterranean Heart of Darkness rumblings." Alsup's deft treatment of the insidious political and cultural tensions inherent in early twentieth century Western colonialism distinguishes her novel from ordinary historical genre fiction---elevates it to Literature. Indeed, Foreign Seed belongs in the company of novels written by the likes of George Orwell, V.S. Naipaul, and E.M. Forster, whose work intelligently examines the bitter complexities of Western colonialism, both from the standpoint of the colonizers and the colonized.
There are no careless word choices, lazy metaphors, or ragged sentences in Foreign Seed. On the contrary, Alsup writes with great eloquence, control, and precision; she has a real gift for creating vivid settings and atmospherics, suspenseful plotting, and authentic dialogue. In Foreign Seed, one hears, too, a not-so-distant echo of Graham Green's most cinematic novels---The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair, and The Quiet American come to mind.
Richard Russo was on to something when he remarked that Alsup's novel has "subtle, subterranean Heart of Darkness rumblings." Alsup's deft treatment of the insidious political and cultural tensions inherent in early twentieth century Western colonialism distinguishes her novel from ordinary historical genre fiction---elevates it to Literature. Indeed, Foreign Seed belongs in the company of novels written by the likes of George Orwell, V.S. Naipaul, and E.M. Forster, whose work intelligently examines the bitter complexities of Western colonialism, both from the standpoint of the colonizers and the colonized.
There are no careless word choices, lazy metaphors, or ragged sentences in Foreign Seed. On the contrary, Alsup writes with great eloquence, control, and precision; she has a real gift for creating vivid settings and atmospherics, suspenseful plotting, and authentic dialogue. In Foreign Seed, one hears, too, a not-so-distant echo of Graham Green's most cinematic novels---The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair, and The Quiet American come to mind.
June 28, 2024
China, during the last year of World War I, the new Vice-Consul, Samuel Sokobin, is charged with finding veteran explorer Frank Meyer, who is missing, presumed dead on his way to is recent mission. Meyer apparently jump off a boat on the Yangzee River.
Details are sketchy and Sokobin's first assignment looks grim. However with luck (if you call it that) the body is discovered floating near a small fishing village. Sokobin is not alone in his quest for he's hired a Chinese interpreter, Mr. Lee, to help him negotiate the Chinese language and swell as it's ways. Meyer's mission is a mystery, especially all he did was finding seeds in China and send them back to the US Agriculture Department, curious.
Surrounding Sokobin are his brother Ethan who is pilot in the Western Front and was shot down over the English Channel. His death wieghs on him, there is the mysterious Meredith, former lover who haunts Sam's mind making questioning himself since he had dropped her like a hot potato just before his promotion, and there is Misiter Lee, who is brilliant in reading people, but is treated like a second class citizen in his own country. Of course World War haunts everyone.
The description of 1918 China shows a lot of research. The story is a fictionalized account of actual events. This is a well done book that paces well.
I would definitely read this author's next book.
Details are sketchy and Sokobin's first assignment looks grim. However with luck (if you call it that) the body is discovered floating near a small fishing village. Sokobin is not alone in his quest for he's hired a Chinese interpreter, Mr. Lee, to help him negotiate the Chinese language and swell as it's ways. Meyer's mission is a mystery, especially all he did was finding seeds in China and send them back to the US Agriculture Department, curious.
Surrounding Sokobin are his brother Ethan who is pilot in the Western Front and was shot down over the English Channel. His death wieghs on him, there is the mysterious Meredith, former lover who haunts Sam's mind making questioning himself since he had dropped her like a hot potato just before his promotion, and there is Misiter Lee, who is brilliant in reading people, but is treated like a second class citizen in his own country. Of course World War haunts everyone.
The description of 1918 China shows a lot of research. The story is a fictionalized account of actual events. This is a well done book that paces well.
I would definitely read this author's next book.
August 17, 2024
Foreign Seed by Allison Alsup was a title I was eagerly awaiting based on the synopsis and I was not disappointed! I was gobsmacked to discover that this was a debut novel as the writing could easily match some of my heroes, like Wilbur Smith, James Clavell and Arthur Golden to name just a few. Alsup will surely join the ranks of these greats if this book is anything at all to go by
Foreign Seed follows Samuel Sokobin, the American Vice Consul as his work takes him into rural China to find Frank Meyer. Sokobin has to navigate the unknown (to him) in the most tumultuous times at the turn of the 20th century (not least the attack on the US gunboat Monocracy in error) as well as the global pandemic and political upheaval.
I was utterly immersed in the humanity of this book, the exploration of Sokobin as he conducts his work, navigates relationships and endures the pain of not knowing the fate of his little brother
A wonderful read and certainly one to return to over and over
Thank you to NetGalley, Turner Publishing Company | Keylight Books and the author Allison Alsup for this stunning ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
Foreign Seed follows Samuel Sokobin, the American Vice Consul as his work takes him into rural China to find Frank Meyer. Sokobin has to navigate the unknown (to him) in the most tumultuous times at the turn of the 20th century (not least the attack on the US gunboat Monocracy in error) as well as the global pandemic and political upheaval.
I was utterly immersed in the humanity of this book, the exploration of Sokobin as he conducts his work, navigates relationships and endures the pain of not knowing the fate of his little brother
A wonderful read and certainly one to return to over and over
Thank you to NetGalley, Turner Publishing Company | Keylight Books and the author Allison Alsup for this stunning ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
May 17, 2024
Foreign Seed is a historical novel set in China in 1918. The plot follows Sokobin, a US Vice Consul in China, as he is tasked with finding the body of a man named Meyer, who is believed to have drowned in the Yangtze River.
What sets this book above most books I've read this year, is Allison Alsup's artistic way of telling the deeper story of Sokobin's inability to separate Meyer's circumstances from that of his brother, a pilot who has gone missing during a military flight. The writing is seamless and beautiful. The author delicately reveals Sokobin's inner story as it relates to his childhood, his brother, and his resistance to letting people in. As the story progresses, Sobokin's dedication to unraveling clues about Meyer becomes entangled in his struggle to accept the uncertainty of his brother's fate. The book explores friendship, acceptance, and internal growth and evolution.
I highly recommend this book because of the beautiful writing and because of the author's artistry in telling a deeply impactful story about grief, loss, acceptance, and evolution.
What sets this book above most books I've read this year, is Allison Alsup's artistic way of telling the deeper story of Sokobin's inability to separate Meyer's circumstances from that of his brother, a pilot who has gone missing during a military flight. The writing is seamless and beautiful. The author delicately reveals Sokobin's inner story as it relates to his childhood, his brother, and his resistance to letting people in. As the story progresses, Sobokin's dedication to unraveling clues about Meyer becomes entangled in his struggle to accept the uncertainty of his brother's fate. The book explores friendship, acceptance, and internal growth and evolution.
I highly recommend this book because of the beautiful writing and because of the author's artistry in telling a deeply impactful story about grief, loss, acceptance, and evolution.
April 28, 2025
This was an excellent work of historic fiction based around two real-life figures, American Vice-Consul Samuel Sokobin, posted to Nanking, China and Frank Meyer, a naturalist under contract to the U.S. government studying and collecting the seeds of native plants. The time is 1918, and the U.S. is at war in Europe. Sokobin's younger brother, Ethan, is a pilot who has been declared missing in action in France.
Sobokin is a rarity in the Foreign Service as a Jewish consular official. He meets Meyer at a consular social event, but sometime later is called upon to solve the mystery of his disappearance from a boat traveling on the Yangtze River. With the help of Mr. Lin, a translator, he performs his investigation.
The novel is fascinating and vividly atmospheric, transporting the reader to an exotic setting in a time that feels far, far away from our current world. It is emotional, yet subtle, with no overwriting, yet the depths of Sobokin's personality and circumstances are exquisitely and delicately revealed. A beautiful book – highly recommend.
Sobokin is a rarity in the Foreign Service as a Jewish consular official. He meets Meyer at a consular social event, but sometime later is called upon to solve the mystery of his disappearance from a boat traveling on the Yangtze River. With the help of Mr. Lin, a translator, he performs his investigation.
The novel is fascinating and vividly atmospheric, transporting the reader to an exotic setting in a time that feels far, far away from our current world. It is emotional, yet subtle, with no overwriting, yet the depths of Sobokin's personality and circumstances are exquisitely and delicately revealed. A beautiful book – highly recommend.
March 23, 2024
You could’ve fooled me that this is a debut novel. Foreign Seed is a thoroughly captivating and enjoyable journey to China in 1918, taking the reader on an intriguing trek with a diplomat who ends up on seeking out answers to more than just a missing explorer. By the way, the mystery surrounding the missing explorer, Frank Meyer, of lemon fame, unwinds in a slow burn, much like the cigarettes that the main character seems to endlessly smoke. At the same time, the diplomat protagonist’s story becomes deeply personal, bringing the reader back in time to a much different era. The way the book is written makes one feel and believe that they are in China, despite never having been there. Allison Alsup’s mastery of wording and the ways in which she turns a phrase are so beautifully orchestrated that you can tell the meticulousness that went into choosing each word. I could not put the book down. Foreign Seed is both a fulfilling read and a satisfying one.
June 17, 2024
Foreign Seeds by Allison Alsup is a work of historical fiction using the mystery of Frank Lemon’s death aboard a boat on the Yangtze River 1918, as a means to explore human relationships during the stress of colonialism. Vice Council, Sokobin is a complex character who succeeds because of his drive to overcome his minority status. He recognizes the capability of Mr. Lin his interpreter, forming a team that that explores the mystery. Sokobin has problems with other relationships including, Meredith a girlfriend and Arthur Chase an executive with Standard oil. The Chesterfield cigarettes are mentioned throughout the book signifying stress, addiction, soldier’s friend but more interesting the cellophane-like wrapper around the pack of 20. The latter gave Sokobin some security and shows the depth of the author’s research since this was the first cigarette to have such packaging. Finally, this is replaced by an engraved cigarette case from a true friend. I highly recommend this book.
January 16, 2025
Foreign Seed was intriguing and difficult to put down. Based on the limited facts surrounding Frank Meyer’s drowning, the author weaved a fictional account, in minute detail, that explained what might have happened. Descriptions of individuals, situations, and places were painted in such exquisite detail that it was as if one was watching it live. A peek into an early 20th century plant explorer’s life with intimate and compelling personal situations of love, loss, hope, and regret.
February 19, 2025
Interesting story about the Americans in China in 1918. It is a real investigation, to figure out what happened with a plant collector adventurer. The fictional part of the story is about how to deal with an unknown, to get closure of family members lost. The need to give that forward, the main character is trying to honestly figure out answers while wishing and depressed about his own brother.
4 stars only due to slow storyline and the mild annoying over highlighted repetitiveness of sweating in the heat and smoking cigarettes (even if I get it’s a way of dealing with the uncertainty while a way to connect to his brother).
4 stars only due to slow storyline and the mild annoying over highlighted repetitiveness of sweating in the heat and smoking cigarettes (even if I get it’s a way of dealing with the uncertainty while a way to connect to his brother).
June 15, 2024
Historical fiction. Beautiful writing. Inspiring read. Meticulously researched and written with care and intention- not a word left to chance. I connected with Alsup’s complex characters and the theme of ambiguous loss. I’ve never been to China or studied WWI in depth, and I knew little about Frank Meyer and Samuel Sokobin so the read was educational as well.
A map of China in the front of the novel helps the reader follow the journey.
Aspiring novelists should read this book to see how it should be done - the craft of writing at its best!
A map of China in the front of the novel helps the reader follow the journey.
Aspiring novelists should read this book to see how it should be done - the craft of writing at its best!
June 29, 2024
I deeply enjoyed Ms. Alsup's writing style. Her historical fiction novel about a disappearing adventurer in China in 1918 kept me turning the pages because of her fascinating characters, her impeccable research, her interesting plot and her themes.
By the end, I was enmeshed in the mysteries of the human experience. Our imperfections in loving other beings, our conflicts between longing for adventure and the comforts of home, and the pain of war and death were all beautifully explored in Foreign Seed.
By the end, I was enmeshed in the mysteries of the human experience. Our imperfections in loving other beings, our conflicts between longing for adventure and the comforts of home, and the pain of war and death were all beautifully explored in Foreign Seed.
July 2, 2024
I just finished this book, and it is perhaps the best book I’ve read this year. It is intense, quiet, funny, and I learned so much about a botanist who discovered New Orleans favorite, Meyer lemon. The writing is beautiful, and Allison takes us on a quiet but fascinating and humorous weekend trip on the Yangtze River, that, in the end, feels like (becomes?) a lifelong journey of discovery. As much as I wanted to keep reading the book to its end, I slowed down to savor the world that Alsup creates.
July 28, 2024
It’s been a long time since I was so impressed and transported by historical fiction. Other reviewers have aptly placed Alsup and the story in the company of Conrad, Greene, Orwell. This might stem from the loose expedition and science connections, but my experience consuming this book also brought to mind A.S. Byatt and Andrea Barrett (Voyage of the Norwhal), authors whose storytelling I've relished and stayed with me long after the final page. Beautifully written, cerebral (in the best way), atmospheric and moving. I'm astonished this is her first novel.
March 22, 2024
Foreign Seed by Allison Alsup is an extraordinary novel. The period details of China during World War I are exquisite, the struggles of the main character, both internal and external, are nuanced and compelling, and the mystery of the disappearance of the adventurer Frank Meyer (the man responsible for bring Meyer lemons to the States from China) carries the reader along on a intriguing journey. A smart book, a fascinating book, a wonderful book. Highly recommended.
June 23, 2024
In her brilliant debut, Allison Alsup crafts a flawless and propulsive novel about a green American vice-consul in 1918 China who is sent to find a missing Dutch explorer. Samuel Sokobin is tormented by memories of his fighter-pilot brother, lost over the English Channel in the Great War. This novel—its deft psychological turns, sure prose, and keen plotting—is the work of a seasoned artist. It holds its own with the colonial novels of Graham Greene and J.M. Coetzee. It will win prizes.
October 13, 2024
There are books and there are books. I read a lot of books to just enjoy the story and be entertained. And then I stumble across a book like Foreign Seed and I think “oh yeah, this is reading” it’s a lovely reminder that I also read to learn things, to expand my horizons and intellect. This book is fantastic.
It’s been compared to Heart of Darkness and that is a fair comparison. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
It’s been compared to Heart of Darkness and that is a fair comparison. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
December 28, 2023
A renowned explorer vanishes on the Yangtze River, and a deeply troubled diplomat takes charge of the investigation. From that tiny seed grows a mighty oak of richly imagined, immersive historical fiction in Allison Alsup’s debut novel. But forget history, because this book vibrates with eternal themes of grief and guilt, love and war, class conflict and culture clash-all with distinctly modern relevance. Samuel Sokobin is a fascinating, well-drawn character. While he seeks the truth of Frank Meyer’s fate, he struggles with personal demons: persistent yearning for his former lover, despair over his (fighter pilot) brother’s apparent disappearance, and doubts about his role in a politically fraught foreign service. Alsup’s prose is masterful, and the elements of her novel's mystery and romance draw the plotline taught. I was lucky enough to read an ARC, and I can’t recommend the book enough.
May 17, 2024
An astonishingly beautiful debut novel with elements of mystery, travelogue, and character study. While the search for missing agricultural explorer Frank Meyer unfolds, it is the deeply personal self-exploratory journey of Vice Counsel Sokobin, that kept me up late at night turning pages. Highly recommended both for its exceptionally lyrical writing and its compelling, mystery-driven plot.
May 7, 2025
This exquisitely crafted and moving book whisked me away to a distant continent and time period that I had previously known very little about. It delves into a myriad of important themes such as colonialism, anti-Semitism, grief, loss, connection, longing, and belonging, all skillfully depicted through beautiful prose.
April 11, 2024
Allison Alsup's first novel is a spellbinding exploration of ambiguous loss during WWI. Filled with unforgettable characters and snappy dialogue, Foreign Seed is a treat to be savored and reread. When will we see the movie version?
November 30, 2024
Beautifully ruminative historical fiction about an American consul in colonial China during WWI. I never would have picked this up if it hadn't been selected for book club. The reader is immersed in one man's literal search and inner world of seeking closure and understanding.
June 7, 2024
I can't put this book down. I'm reading with such urgency and satisfaction with each new chapter. Beautiful writing and elegantly vivid characters. Brava!
July 16, 2024
Beautifully written novel. Every word seems the perfect choice. No foreshadowing makes this a compelling read. I loved this book.
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November 25, 2024Don't know what I think of it yet, might be way better as a physical read than audio...
May 25, 2025
Great book. I love that she took time to discover a little part of history that would have been forgotten and spun a good story from it.
July 18, 2025
I hope this becomes a series!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews