The Phoenix Crown: The brand new thrilling and gripping historical novel from the internationally bestselling authors

In 1911, we meet Alice Eastwood at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. She was a woman before her time. Unmarried, living alone, a scientist, an adventurer, a trailblazer for other women. People were shocked to see her manner of dress because she wore trousers which were well suited for her life as a Botanist who shunned no adventure as she searched for the perfect specimen for her collections. At 52 years of age, not much shocked or scared her. That is until the earth buckled and rolled and came apart in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.Flashback now to 1906 and Gemma Garland. A 32 year old aspiring opera singer is on the train to San Francisco for a job. She is traveling with her caged pet bird and all her belongs to meet her best friend in all the world, an artist name Nellie Doyle with whom she will stay when she arrives. It is thirteen days, fourteen hours,and fifty-two minutes before the San Francisco earthquake. And wham! This wonderful book takes off and never slows down. Arriving in San Francisco, Gemma finds she needs help carrying her bird and heavy trunk over the hilly cobblestone streets to the boarding house where Nellie rents a room. She hires an old Chinese man and a young boy whose laundry cart has just been emptied to take her and her belongings to the boarding house. The trek was uphill and when she arrived, she tipped the boy and elderly man generously. But, surprises awaited Gemma that she never saw coming nor ever imagined.Chapter 2 introduces Suling, whose arranged marriage is to take place in two weeks time. But she has other plans. She will escape this marriage, this city, and her guardian before the date of her marriage. We are now twelve days, twenty three hours, thirty-six minutes before the earthquake. A lot can happen in twelve days.Authors Quinn and Chan, fast friends from a previous author tour, have written an exciting, quickly paced, novel taking the reader to San Francisco’s high society parties and life, to the poverty and prejudice of Chinatown, to the fashion houses of London. The richly drawn characters search for new lives as they also look for a man they know first hand is an evil con artist and a killer with no conscience.The chapters move smoothly between characters who are drawn from real life as well as created by the authors. Be sure and read the authors’ end notes. They explain so much. I loved this five star novel and hope someday there will be another collaboration between Quinn and Chan. Well done, Ladies.

A very interesting and well written book!

5,0 de 5 estrellas Fascinating storytelling with incredibly credible plottingRevisado en España el 25 de septiembre de 2021By now I have bought&read all of Kate Quinn's books (and begun to look into Janie Chang's as well), so I can vouch for Quinn's mastery of storytelling. Elsewhere on Amazon I had already confessed that her Siberian (World War II) pilot girl Nina is one of the most enticing women I have ever found in literature. And now, in the Phoenix Crown, I -and all readers- get introduced to no less than 4 wonderful woman characters -- such bounty that I literally did not stop reading until the last page. We are deeply indebted to the authors Quinn and Chang for boundless reading pleasure, of course recommended to all & sundry!

San Francisco 1906: This story begins 13 days before the infamous earthquake that destroyed most of San Francisco, the fires which resulted from the earthquake burned for three days and three nights. It is said that 700 people died in the earthquake and resulting fires but the number is believed it could be up to 3000 people died. 28,000 building were destroyed. San Francisco's Chinatown was totally destroyed.April 4 1906: Suling, a young Chinese woman, has days to avoid a forced marriage. Gemma, an opera singer, has just arrived in San Francisco to join her longtime friend Nellie. When she arrives at Nellie's boarding house, Gemma meets botanist Alice Eastwood. Her friend Nellie has disappeared.Suling, Gemma and Alice all come into the orbit of Henry Thornton, rail magnate and connoisseur of music and arts. Among Thornton's priceless works of art is the antique Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing's fallen Summer Palace.All their lives are torn apart when the earthquake strikes in the early hours of April 18 1906. Thornton disappears as does the Phoenix Crown.Then, in 1911 at a sumptuous ball in the palace of Versailles, the Phoenix Crown mysteriously reappears.This story is a stunning work by Kate Quinn, whose books I know and love, and Janie Chang, her books I have yet to enjoy. (I have two of them to read: The Porcelain Moon and The Library of Legends).Beautifully researched, this is a book that I love and highly recommend to other readers. The lead up and suspense of 13 days before April 18, and what is learned in that time, is critical to what occurs 5 years later.

A bit melodramatic for my liking.