Teak Lord

More about the book

A tale of piety, greed, debauchery and equanimity in a remote Asian kingdomIt’s 1875 and Chiang Mai, capital of Lanna, is a cultural crossroads of Buddhist monks and Christian missionaries, of spirit doctors and opium smokers, of seductive dancers and Western adventurers.A sharp rise in teak prices sets off a mad rush for logging concessions, and the forests of Lanna resound to the thwack of axes and the trumpeting of elephants as the mighty trees are felled.Enter Doctor Marion Cheek, a medical missionary and teak trader, whose exploits in this exotic realm – saving the life of the ruler’s wife, setting up a harem of local beauties and standing triumphant at the kingdom’s highest point – make him a legend in his lifetime.