The Red Thread: A Chinese Tale of Love and Fate in 1830s Singapore |
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Dawn Farnham
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Pages: 328 (Paperback)
ISBN: 981057567X
Pub: Monsoon Books
Pub date: 2007-05-15
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 393298
Reader Reviews:
A beautiful, sexy and evocative love story set in old Singapore (0/0 people found this helpful)
I loved this novel. It is set against the fabulous back-drop of Colonial 1830s Singapore and charts the 'star-crossed' fates of two very different newcomers to the island - Zhen the handsome and powerfully sexual Chinese coolie, and Charlotte the wild Madagascan-raised Scottish sister of the police chief. Like the title of the book implies, their fates are interwoven like the mythical red thread of Chinese lore, set against the backdrop of a Singapore soaked in the colours of uprisings, murders, interracial tensions (and harmonies) and the threat of civil war.
Charlotte is a heroine you can really get your teeth into, full of passion and intelligence and wit and born into a time not fully able to contain her. Zhen exudes masculinity and power and is a fascinating and richly drawn male character, all the more intriguing because western novels rarely seem to feature strong Chinese male leads.
The author's seemingly immaculate knowledge of her subject is mirrored by her obvious affection for the island nation, so often written off in recent times as a shopping mecca devoid of any real richness. You will see Singapore in an entirely new light, and you are guaranteed to learn something you didn't know - be it about old world remedies for preventing pregnancy, the history of violent uprisings and melting together of cultures lurking in its rich history, or even an appreciation for traditional chinese poetry!!
But don't let this fool you - The Red Thread is a a novel which starts gently and somewhat sedately, but accelerates into a violent, passionate and highly sexy journey through love between two very different cultures.
I loved it.
(Note to the author: bring on the sequel please!!)
Excellent love story (1/1 people found this helpful)
This is a really romantic and wonderfully historic love story. I loved this book. Having been to Singapore many times, I loved the way the author conjured up images of its history and many cultures. The central love story is so lovely and is well observed in light of the circumstances the two live through. I would highly recommend this book!!!
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Romance -> Genres -> Historical
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)