Mandarin

More about the book

From the Taiping Rebellion to the torching of the Imperial palaces by Western hordes At the heart of this passionate saga of 19th century China are the love stories of two extraordinary women swept into the flames of war... FRONAH--Daughter of a rich Jewish-Chinese merchant, she rebelled against her heritage and plunged into the sinful, dangerous pleasures of European Shanghai... YENEHALA--Out of thousands of the Emperor's concubines, she alone would bear him a son, heir to China's vast fortunes -- and its bloody intrigues. Out of the smoking ruins of war, she alone would lead her beloved China to a glorious new destiny... Completing the trilogy begun in "Dynasty" and "Manchu", this family saga unfolds as an epic tale of love, war and ambition.