A timeless novel inspired by the legendary real-life Chinese courtesan Sai Jinhua—an extraordinary woman who bridged two worlds in the twilight decades of the Qing dynasty, a tumultuous era of East meets West. The year is 1881. Seven-year-old Jinhua is left an orphan, alone and unprotected after her mandarin father’s summary execution for the crime of speaking the truth. For seven silver coins, … seven silver coins, she is sold to a brothel-keeper and subjected to the worst of human nature.
When an elegant but troubled scholar takes Jinhua as his concubine, she enters the close world of his jealous first wife. Yet it is Jinhua who accompanies him—as emissary to the foreign devil nations of Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and Russia—on an exotic journey to Vienna. As he struggles to play his part in China’s early, blundering diplomatic engagement with the Western world, Jinhua’s eyes and heart are opened to the irresistible possibilities of a place that is mesmerizing and strange, where she will struggle against the constraints of tradition and her husband’s authority and seek to find “Great Love.”
Sai Jinhua is an altered woman when she returns to a changed and changing China, where a dangerous clash of cultures pits East against West. As the Boxer Rebellion brews and finally breaks, Jinhua’s Western sympathies will threaten not only her own survival but the survival of those who are most dear to her.
An authentic and beautifully written portrait of China’s relationship with the West, the story of the incredible Sai Jinhua, told the way it might have been, is not to be forgotten.
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Tragic story based on truths. I love historical fiction and this gives you great insight in the life of a courtesan and how they become one.
So little is known of the real Sai Jinhua, that the author has a wide range of imaginary issues to write about. The real value of this book isn’t, in fact, Sai Jinhua’s story, but how it reveals the social, cultural, and political situations in China at a time when the Western powers were intent on carving it up for their own greed. Women were possessions, opium addiction was rife, and political corruption within was rampant. The Boxer rebellion against the West threw China into chaos. Not a bit of history most Westerners today are even aware of.
exceptional read, well written
An insight of the life of a Chinese girl and her tragic life.
This book is not for everyone.
Sai Jinhua lived in the late 1800 – early 1900 in China. There is a lot of mythology surrounding her life. She has been portrayed as a heroine, a “scarlet woman”, an evil enemy. Her life took many different turns during this era of China history; European/American Imperialism and the Boxer Rebellion. There are many diverse stories about who and what this woman was and what she actually did.
This book takes the person and touches upon the critical parts of her life. It does not read like a biography — a chapter will discuss her life as a young child, then the following chapter will take up with her some years later. But each chapter goes into some depth about (allegedly) what she did, what she thought, how she felt. Since so little is known about her, it’s all conjecture, but it does paint an unusual picture of her life and you do feel that you get to understand and know her.
Expect some cuts between chapters that will be very frustrating. You’ll want to know what happened next in the chapter – but that is not told. The Epilogue to the book explains this, and why the author took this liberty — I think the book should have had a better explanation of how much you’d miss between chapters right up in the front of this book. This would have alleviated my frustration at the end of a couple of the chapters – I literally wanted to throw my kindle and say “but what the h**l happened in the years between? What did he do to her, how did it happen?”
Overall, an interesting read. I would not suggest this as the first “china” book for someone who does not know a bit about Chinese history and custom.
Sad and haunting life of a woman who was sold as a young girl and goomed as a sex slave.
Loved it. What an epic story. So well written. Recommend.
Still not through it… seemed to lose my interest. I’ve archived in hopes of looking at it again in the future with fresh eyes.
This is the kind of book I love – an emotional story full of unexpected twists about an exotic time and place.
Loved the first half of this book. As it progressed it became a bit unbelievabe. Overall interesting.
I enjoy historical fiction, and this book delivered. A good read.
The characters were interesting and moved the story well. I was entertained with vivid imagery.
A very different read for me culturally. The main character is a strong woman who is caught in a culture of limitations.
A terrific book from a novel point of view!
I usually really like this style of book, but this one just failed to capture me. I would set it down for days at a time, then go back to it thinking maybe I’d just not been in the mood for it. But it never really picked up, just rolled along at a snail’s pace.
I couldn’t put it down.
An intriguing look at China during the 1870-90s through the eyes of a young girl and then a young woman who is intelligent, curious, and alone. I know little about that time period in China at a time the western nations, Japan and Russia were fighting for footholds there and how the Boxer Rebellion grew. Great characters and insight. Well worth the read!
quite well written, hard to tell how true it is
Started off way better than it ended.
This book kept my attention from day one. The author did her homework, and
I had just finished another novel about a girl turned woman with a sad future
in store, along with foot-binding, superstion, unbelievable treatment of women
in a time unfathomable to our modern life…I would read more of her historical
novels. My thanks for many hours of good reading!