A set of signed copies of either Jennifer Cody Espatein's international best seller The Painter from Shanghai or (sneak preview) copies of her upcoming novel The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, with a wine-bearing visit from the author the night your group discusses the work. Called "luminous" and "an irresistble story" by The New York Times, The Painter from Shanghai re-imagines the life of Chinese prostitute-turned-painter Pan Yuliang, who was sold into sexual slavery by her opium-addicted uncle at age 14 but survived to be one of China's most controversial and influential modern painters. Set against the 1945 firebombing of Tokyo, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment (due out January 2013) follows the intertwining stories of five characters-Japanese and American alike-as they follow their nations in and out of war, encountering death, atrocity, betrayal, and finally redemption in the process.