Book Reviews | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

LIFE’S TOO SHORT by Abby Jimenez

June 10, 2021

The Friend Zone, Book 3

From the publisher:

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A hilarious, tender, and altogether life-affirming gem of a book.” –Emily Henry, bestselling author of Beach Read

A brilliant and touching romantic comedy about two polar opposites, one adorable dog, and living every day to its fullest.

When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn’t expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn’t just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn’t want to take anything for granted.

But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from “daily adventure” to “next-level bad” (now with bonus baby vomit in hair).

The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she’d be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua.

Now she’s feeling things she’s vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

Letting your hot neighbor help you out with a crying baby in the middle of the night doesn’t seem like the best idea Vanessa has, but she is desperate and out of options. She got to take a much needed shower, plus he got the baby to stop crying. And he is hot, so there’s that.

Vanessa has some serious baggage. She lost her mom and her sister to a horrible, debilitating disease, and she is too scared to even get tested for it. Instead, she lives her life as if each day may be her last, traveling the world and entertaining her millions of followers. But her drug addicted half-sister is in no shape to take care of her baby, and Vanessa can’t say no so her life has taken a drastic turn here.

Adrian is amazing, and Vanessa is no fool so it is no surprise that they fall in love. But Adrian doesn’t understand her family medical history, mostly because she hasn’t told him. Vanessa has lived with it all her life, so she knows the difficult decisions that most likely lay ahead of her but she’s not sharing that with Adrian either. In a way, it reminded me of Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You, but a slightly more upbeat version.

While this novel does have a more serious undertone, there are still a lot of laughs in this emotionally charged romance. The characters are well defined, and their relationship believable. Bottom line is that Jimenez writes excellent stories that really draw you in and this is no exception.

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LIFE’S TOO SHORT by Abby Jimenez. Forever (April 6, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538715666. 384 pages.

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EAGLES OVER BRITAIN by Lee Jackson

June 9, 2021

The After Dunkirk Series, Book 2

From the publisher:

The Battle of Dunkirk might be finished, but the war isn’t over.

The saga of the Littlefield family continues with this rich and evocative second installment in the AFTER DUNKIRK series.

The German Luftwaffe attacks Britain from the skies.
With no allies, she stands alone.
Her fate hangs in the balance.

As the first Axis aircraft streak across English Channel airspace, so begins a battle for the ages; one that will determine the trajectory of the war. Braced for engagement on their individual fronts, the Littlefields plumb the depths of courage and ingenuity to defend their beloved Britain.

Fresh from the slaughter of Dunkirk, youngest brother Jeremy is called upon to create a French Resistance network composed of former naval officers.

At MI-9 headquarters, Claire Littlefield has devised an intelligence coup that could change the tide of the war. But will it work?

Lance, captured and far from home, puts his resiliency and resolve to the test.

And frustrated at being sidelined from active combat, Paul is unaware that he is being groomed for a role beyond his imagination.

A sweeping story of war filled with intimate, day-to-day details of those closest to danger, EAGLES OVER BRITAIN is a captivating tale of bravery, sacrifice, and one family’s fight to bring Britain to victory.

Utilizing persona from the Littlefield family, a group that had lived and prospered on one of the Channel Islands belonging to Great Britain, the author has taken his readers full tilt into the opening events of World War II. The first novel in the series leads the family into the retreat from France culminating in the saving of thousands of lives by many small boats picking up soldiers from Dunkirk and taking them across the English Channel to safety. In the current novel the events of the Battle of Britain are described and shown why it led to the famous declaration by than Prime Minister Churchill, “Never has so much been owed by so many to so few.”

The Littlefield family, both men and women, are all taking part in activities designed to fight the invaders coming to France, England and the Channel Islands as part of Hitler’s plans to become the leading power in Europe. Jackson brings the group into the defensive action against the Luftwaffe’s attacks on England. His research showcases groups of pilots that overcome shear exhaustion day after day to take off and repel the bombing runs of the German air force. Men that took off ,fought the invaders and if surviving returned to base, handed over often shot up planes to maintenance crews and then staggered into bed until the next sortie.

The power of the book is in its concentration on the courage of a nation that wouldn’t give up and stood up against the Nazi design to invade England once their air force had destroyed English air power. People heard alarms, ran to shelters. Upon ending the attack they came out and pitched in with the first responders to help those that were hurt and somehow comfort those people losing loved ones to the enemy bombs.

Love still finds a way and the book ends with members of the family forming attachments which we know will follow up into the next planned novel of the series. The ending also sets up the following book which will be positively received and enjoyed by faithful readers.

6/2021 Paul Lane

EAGLES OVER BRITAIN by Lee Jackson. Severn River Publishing (April 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-1648750717. 456 pages.

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HOW NOT TO MESS WITH A MILLIONAIRE by Regina Kyle

June 8, 2021

Mediterranean Millionaires, Book 1

From the publisher:

Interior decorator Zoe Ryan’s life resembles a bad country song. Her boyfriend dumped her, her car died, and she was recently handed a pink slip. What’s a girl to do? Leave everything behind for a bit….in Positano, Italy. And when she gets there, she finds a surprising extra—millionaire restaurateur Dante Sabbatini in the kitchen. In his underwear. Making coffee. It’s suddenly not only hot outside, but exactly what is he doing inside, in her temporary kitchen?

Dante’s plan was to escape to his family’s beach house for some quiet and privacy. What he didn’t know was that his meddling, matchmaking nonna rented the entire house to a sexy stranger at the exact same time as his stay. It took him months to clear his schedule—there’s no way he’s leaving now.

With both refusing to leave, Zoe and Dante agree to be temporary roomies, but secretly aim to try to drive the other out. He plays his music as loud as he wants and will wear as little clothing as possible, and she’ll just go ahead and adopt that pig she fell in love with in town. But suddenly their game of one-upmanship takes a very sexy detour, and they can’t believe what happens next.

Blame it on Fifty Shades of Grey, but so many romances revolve around millionaire/billionaire men. Personally, I find it a bit tiresome, but it worked okay here. Zoe and Dante had chemistry, and that chemistry makes for a very steamy read. Being forced to share living quarters happens often enough in romances, but this is set in Positano, Italy so that immediately made me want to read it. I would have liked more description of the area but this is a very short, very fast read and that would have slowed it down for sure. Just knowing they were on the beach in Italy was enough to get me involved though.

Zoe is an interior designer, and she rents this villa on the beach because she is enamored of the designer who did the home. She lost her job because her boss was basically a turd, stealing her ideas and presenting them as his own, and she decides a month in Italy is just what she needs before looking for a new job.

Dante owns a few very successful restaurants, but he had a traumatic event in his life that he is barely recovering from a year later. He clears his very busy schedule to stay at the beach house, but his nonna (grandma) doesn’t take that into account when she rents it to Zoe. I knew I was going to like this book when Zoe walks in to find a naked Dante coming out of the pool.

Neither one wants to leave, so they start playing a game of who can be a crappier roommate. But eventually they form an alliance, mostly based around a miniature pig, which added a bit of comic relief. This is an erotic romance, and there is explicit sex along with the hearts and flowers. The author is new to me, but she did a really good job with this story. Really my only complaint was the cheesy cover. I look forward to the next book in this series.

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HOW NOT TO MESS WITH A MILLIONAIRE by Regina Kyle. Independently published (June 2, 2021). ISBN: 979-8513918646. 230 pages.

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WISHING FOR A COWBOY by Victoria James

June 7, 2021

Wishing River, Book 3

From the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling author Victoria James comes a heartwarming love story about family, forgiveness, and the true meaning of “home.”

Janie Adams has been a single parent to her nephew since he was a baby. Fifteen years later, she’s finally found out who his father might be, so the two of them travel across the country to find him. She’d do anything for this kid. But when they arrive in the small town of Wishing River, Montana, and Janie finally meets the ruggedly handsome cowboy she’d been told had abandoned his son, his shocked response changes everything.

Aiden Rivers can’t dispute this is his kid when he sees his own features staring back at him, but he had no idea Janie’s sister was pregnant when she left him. He didn’t even know she had a sister―clearly they’d all been lied to. Now he has fifteen years of fatherhood to make up for and no idea how to be a dad. This was never in his plans.

Janie sticks around to help him ease into parenting, everything from showing him how to lure a sulky kid out of his bedroom to keeping up with the latest teen-speak. Together, they surprisingly make a good team, this city girl and country boy. But when the past catches up with them, Aiden and Janie must decide what’s best for the boy who’s connecting them, not only for each other…which could mean splitting them apart.

Each book in the Wishing River series is STANDALONE:
* The Trouble with Cowboys
* Cowboy for Hire
* Wishing For A Cowboy

I love a good cowboy romance, and James’s latest entry into her series is a really good one. Janie has raised her sister’s son as if he was her own. Her sister is bad news, and has only appeared sporadically since his birth. But Janie gives up everything to take care of him, so when she runs out of money, she knows she has to do something. She tracks down the father and shows up on his ranch.

Aiden remembers Janie’s sister, and also remembers what a flake she was. But he is still shocked to find out he has a teenage son. Determined to do right by him, and his guardian, Aiden takes them in and starts getting to know them both. Janie is beyond happy that he is willing to acknowledge his son.

While they get to know one another, Janie and Aiden fall in love. There are a bunch of obstacles to get around, including her sister showing up and deciding to “take back” her ex. It’s a mess but everyone gets what they deserve in the end. Another excellent addition to the series.

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WISHING FOR A COWBOY by Victoria James. Entangled: Amara (March 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-1682815670. 364 pages.

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FIRST COMES LIKE by Alisha Rai

June 6, 2021

Modern Love, Book 3

From the publisher:

The author of The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral returns with a story about finding love in all the wrong inboxes…

Beauty expert and influencer Jia Ahmed has her eye on the prize: conquering the internet today, the entire makeup industry tomorrow, and finally, finally proving herself to her big opinionated family. She has little time for love, and even less time for the men in her private messages—until the day a certain international superstar slides into her DMs, and she falls hard and fast.

There’s just one wrinkle: he has no idea who she is.

The son of a powerful Bollywood family, soap opera star Dev Dixit is used to drama, but a strange woman who accuses him of wooing her online, well, that’s a new one. As much as he’d like to focus on his Hollywood fresh start, he can’t get Jia out of his head. Especially once he starts to suspect who might have used his famous name to catfish her…

When paparazzi blast their private business into the public eye, Dev is happy to engage in some friendly fake dating to calm the gossips and to dazzle her family. But as the whole world swoons over their relationship, Jia can’t help but wonder: Can an online romance-turned-offline-fauxmance ever become love in real life?

I really liked The Right Swipe, so I’m not sure how but I missed Girl Gone Viral. I will be looking for that soonest! Because I liked this book a lot as well.

Rai writes charming, sweet romances set in her Muslim culture, which I find very interesting. In this story, our heroine, Jia, is a wannabe beauty influencer. She’s getting to where she wants to go and isn’t in the market for love. Except her family is driving her crazy, and she may have met someone.

Dev is Bollywood royalty, and when he DMs Jia, she falls fast and thinks he has, as well. She pushes for a meeting but he’s holding her off. Then she ends up at an event where she finally meets him – except he has no idea who she is. Apparently she’s been catfished. But there is an attraction there, so when Jia asks Dev to be her fake boyfriend to keep her family off her back, he agrees.

Fake relationships always turn into the real thing – it is a classic trope of the romance genre and one that I enjoy. On the other hand, I’ve never known anyone who was in a fake relationship or fake engagement, but I’m not one to rule it out. I choose to believe.

I like the strong, feminist characters here and the sweet romance that is culturally appropriate. An excellent addition to the Modern Love series.

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FIRST COMES LIKE by Alisha Rai. Avon (February 16, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062878151. 432 pages.

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SANDCASTLE BEACH by Jenny Holiday

June 5, 2021

From the publisher:

From the USA Today bestselling “master of witty banter” (Entertainment Weekly) comes a hilarious and heartwarming romance about two enemies whose feud turns red-hot.

Maya Mehta will do anything to save her tiny, beloved community theater. Put on musicals she hates? Check. Hire an arrogant former-pop-star-turned-actor? Done. But what Maya really needs to save her theater is Matchmaker Bay’s new business grant. She’s got some serious competition, though: Benjamin “Law” Lawson, local bar owner, Jerk Extraordinaire, and Maya’s annoyingly hot arch nemesis. Let the games begin.

Law loves nothing more than getting under Maya’s skin, and making those gorgeous eyes dance with irritation. But when he discovers the ex-pop star has a thing for Maya, too, Law decides he’s done waiting in the wings-starting with a scorching-hot kiss. Turns out there’s a thin line between hate and irresistible desire, and Maya and Law are really good at crossing it. But when things heat up, will they allow their long-standing feud to get in the way of their growing feelings?

I feel like I’ve read this story before (because I have) but I don’t care, Holiday does her usual good job of building believable characters that I actually cared about, a warm, wonderful setting, and enough angst to keep those pages turning.

Maya has a big heart. She loves the theater but understands that the tiny beach town is not really enough to keep it going. So to bring in outsiders, she snares a former boy band member to star in her new production. She has barely enough money to keep going, so she gives him her apartment to stay in and gets down to work.

The town meeting reveals a pleasant surprise; they are offering a grant to a local business, Maya desperately needs that money, but she has some competition. A local bar owner is also vying for the grant. Law is well liked in town, but he is not as desperate as Maya, and she’s sure she has it in the bag. But the road to success is paved with many speedbumps, least of which is the hot boy band member trying to date her and her increasing attraction to Law.

This was a fun read and a good escape for a few hours. I ask for nothing more than that!

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SANDCASTLE BEACH by Jenny Holiday. Forever (March 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538716571. 432 pages.

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GOLDEN GIRL by Elin Hilderbrand

June 4, 2021

From the publisher:

In this satisfying page-turner from “the queen of beach reads” (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.

On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she’s assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.

From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her.

With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.

Hilderbrand continues to stretch her literary chops with her latest summer read, and it’s a good one. The kind of book you can’t put down. There is a bit of suspense – the hit-and-run at the center of the story is a mystery to be solved, but even I figured that out without really trying. Doesn’t matter though, it’s a good story with a beautiful Nantucket setting, characters who come to life on the page, and a bit of magical realism. Or a touch of fantasy/paranormal, whatever floats your boat, in that our main character, the golden girl herself, Vivian Howe, is the victim of the hit-and-run and is watching from heaven’s waiting room. A nice touch, especially for a mother who worries about her kids. And it feels a bit autobiographical, too – the main character is a novelist who sets all her books on Nantucket. Makes it feel more personal.

From heaven’s waiting room, Vivi meets her “person”, Martha, a Hermes scarf always around her neck and she helps Vivi navigate her afterlife. There Vivi can watch over her kids for the summer, and she is gifted with three “nudges” that she can use to help point her kids in the right direction. It makes for an interesting subplot.

There is a lot of family drama and laughs, and the story really moves quickly making it impossible to put down. If you like family drama with a touch of romance and an edge, this ticks off all those boxes. Another excellent read from the Nantucket Queen of beach reads, and this may be her best book yet, and that is really saying something. Don’t miss it!

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GOLDEN GIRL by Elin Hilderbrand. Little, Brown and Company (June 1, 2021). ISBN: 978-0316420082. 384 pages.

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LEGACY by Nora Roberts

June 3, 2021

From the publisher:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents Legacy, a new novel of a mother and a daughter, of ambition and romance, and of a traumatic past reawakened by a terrifying threat…

Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her―before her mother, Lina, stepped in.

Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents’ house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend―and developing the stirrings of a crush on her friend’s ten-year-old brother. Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness brand and turning it into a billion-dollar business. There was no point in dwelling on the past.

A decade later, Adrian has created her own line of yoga and workout videos, following in Lina’s footsteps but intent on maintaining creative control. And she’s just as cool-headed and ambitious as her mother. They aren’t close, but they’re cordial―as long as neither crosses the other.

But while Lina dismisses the death threats that Adrian starts getting as a routine part of her daughter’s growing celebrity, Adrian can’t help but find the vicious rhymes unsettling. Year after year, they keep arriving―the postmarks changing, but the menacing tone the same. They continue after she returns to Maryland and becomes reacquainted with Raylan, her childhood crush, all grown up and as gorgeously green-eyed as ever. Sometimes it even seems like the terrifying messages are indeed routine, like nothing will come of them. Until the murders start, and the escalation begins…

This book is a fine example of why Nora Roberts is still at the top of the bestseller lists. She writes a great story with interesting characters and really knows how to keep the reader turning pages. Between the family dynamics, the growing business, friendships, romance, and of course the crazy, threatening poems that show up annually, it was impossible to put this book down.

Lina, the mom, is the least developed character here but she is very much on the periphery. A career driven, super successful yoga megastar, she is not close with her daughter. In fact, the nanny and the grandparents are the ones who raise Adrian to be the mature, smart, sensible yet driven young woman she becomes. When she is forced to start a new high school, she decides to create her own exercise videos. She recruits a group of nerds, committing social suicide in the process, but she doesn’t care. She likes her new friends and they get her where she wants to be. Happily, she takes them along on her ride to success.

But success always has its downside. In Adrian’s case, it’s the threatening poems that follow her for years, until they finally start escalating. Her mother, always one to throw money at a problem, hires a private investigator since the FBI hasn’t really done anything over the years. Meanwhile, Adrian moves out of NY and in with her grandfather after her grandmother passes. They adopt a mountain of a dog from the pound, and Adrian finds she is very happy living in the small town where she spent her best times growing up. Her best friend still lives there, and her brother, Raylan of the beautiful green eyes, ends up moving back home. Adrian and Raylan are friendly, but that friendship turns to something deeper as they reconnect.

If you like a bit of suspense with your romance, this is your book. I have to say I pretty much figured out who the threat was early on, and it didn’t really matter. I still loved this story and these characters. They almost(!) tempted me into trying yoga again.

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LEGACY by Nora Roberts. St. Martin’s Press (May 25, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250272935. 448 pages.

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TALK BOOKISH TO ME by Kate Bromley

June 2, 2021

From the publisher:

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources.

Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book.

But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver.

With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse—who pushes every one of her buttons—to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?

There are a bunch of books coming out with book, bookish, bookstore, library, or librarian in the title and of course, I want to read them all. I started with this one by mistake; I thought I was going to be reading a book about a woman who goes to work in a bookshop in Scotland, but that’s a different book! (The Bookshop of Second Chances.) I figured it out pretty quickly, but I got sucked into this story so happy accident. Turns out I ended up liking this book way more than the one I originally set out to read (review of that one will be up soon.)

This was a charming story with many laugh out loud moments, I loved the humor here. And it’s a debut! I love finding new authors.

Kara and Ryan had a really bad breakup, the kind that left them hating one another. But turns out Ryan is a childhood friend of Kara’s best friend’s fiance, so as the wedding approaches, they end up having to deal with one another. And the funny thing is, after Kara’s first run in with Ryan, it seems her writer’s block has ended. Ryan is giving her the impetus to write again, and as her deadline looms, Kara is desperate enough to take advantage of that. And did I mention Ryan has an adorable dog?

Ryan ends up sleeping on Kara’s couch, but not for long. The chemistry they once had has grown even hotter, but Kara lives in NYC, and Ryan is in North Carolina. Plus Kara is moving to Italy for 6 months after the wedding. Between their history, their geography, Kara’s looming deadline, and the stress of the wedding, things are really crazy. For Kara and Ryan to reach their happily ever after is not going to be easy, and we, the readers, get to enjoy every moment of it. A happy beach read sure to leave a smile on your face – don’t miss it!

6/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

TALK BOOKISH TO ME by Kate Bromley. Graydon House; Original edition (May 25, 2021). ISBN: 978-1525806438. 320 pages.

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CHINA by Edward Rutherfurd

May 31, 2021

From the publisher:

The internationally bestselling author of Paris and New York takes on an exhilarating new world with his trademark epic style in China: The Novel

Edward Rutherfurd has enthralled millions of readers with his grand, sweeping historical sagas that tell the history of a famous place over multiple generations. Now, in China: The Novel, Rutherfurd takes readers into the rich and fascinating milieu of the Middle Kingdom.

The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows Chinese history through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and up to the present day. Rutherfurd chronicles the rising and falling fortunes of members of Chinese, British, and American families, as they negotiate the tides of history. Along the way, in his signature style, Rutherfurd provides a deeply researched portrait of Chinese history and society, its ancient traditions and great upheavals, and China’s emergence as a rising global power. As always, we are treated to romance and adventure, heroines and scoundrels, grinding struggle and incredible fortunes.

China: The Novel brings to life the rich terrain of this vast and constantly evolving country. From Shanghai to Nanking to the Great Wall, Rutherfurd chronicles the turbulent rise and fall of empires as the colonial West meets the opulent and complex East in a dramatic struggle between cultures and people.

Extraordinarily researched and majestically told, Edward Rutherfurd paints a thrilling portrait of one of the most singular and remarkable countries in the world.

This novel is a well researched venture into the period of about 1830 until the Boxer Revolution of 1900 in China. The author chooses several different families and individuals to frame his story on. These are characters that experience what was the Chinese culture during the time of their lives. Overall Rutherfurd utilizes the character of Cixi, the dowager empress, as the individual influencing events in the country both during her own lifetime and attempting to continue to do so after her death.

The story opens with what were the Opium wars of the early 1800s in which England carried on a lucrative trade of selling opium to China and buying tea from them. The Chinese realizing that they were getting generations of dope addicts as the price being paid to allow England to actually pay for tea attempted to keep the British from bringing the narcotic into their home ports. With fortunes riding on continuing the opium sales battles were fought between the modern weapons of the English and easily defeated Chinese troops.

Rutherfurd aptly shows a country with a rich history going back almost 5000 years with a population of a rich and also a destitute poor class. The path to wealth is mainly through entrance into some level of the ruling class and only minor possibilities through opening a successful business. One of the leading individuals is a man that faced with feeding his family decides to embark upon a path that would be impossible to conceive of by most men. He elects to become a eunuch in order to obtain work at the emperor’s palace where that condition is mandatory to hold a position. He consults his wife and his father getting their approval and goes ahead with the change. By a lucky occurrence he obtains the job of doing the nails of Cixi than the emperor’s concubine pleases her and continues on. He is dubbed “Lacquer Nail” the name that sticks with him permanently and is in a position to follow Cixi as she marries the emperor and in time assumes the role of dowager empress.

In 1900 a rebellion breaks out looking to stop the many groups of foreigners from continuing to bleed the country. The initiators of the insurrection are known as Boxers due to their interest in the martial arts. The foreigners centered in the city of Peking group together for mutual defense in the British legation using small groups of soldiers from the countries residing in China to defend them. Word is sent to a combined army of troops sent to restore the safety of the people working in China as part of their legations to come to their rescue. The section of the novel dealing with the rebellion and the subsequent arrival of the rescue force is a very well done portrait of people facing a situation that they are not attuned to contending with.

The book is a long one, but Rutherfurd’s ability to create a story and the people involved in it makes for one excellent read and a commanding portrait of a civilization not like that of most of the western world.

5/2021 Paul Lane

CHINA by Edward Rutherfurd. Doubleday (May 11, 2021). ISBN: 978-0385538930. 784 pages.