All the Tea in China - Softcover

Bonfiglioli, Kyril

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241971764 ISBN 13: 9780241971765

Publisher: Viking, 2014

Synopsis

All the Tea in China - a Mortdecai novel by Kyril Bonfiglioli, soon to be a major film starring Johnny Depp 'One of the funniest writers ever' Uncut After committing a crime anyone but a close relative might forgive, Karli Mortdecai Van Cleef leaves Holland double-quick with his uncle's buckshot lodged firmly in the seat of his breeches. Discretion being the least-idiotic part of valour he decides to hide far away in London, among the tea shops and opium dens. On savouring these Eastern delicacies and knowing an opportunity when he sups upon one, young Karli throws in his lot with an opium clipper bound for China's high seas. Life on the ocean waves, however, is full of perils for an officer and his sensitive digestive tract: mountainous waves, an encounter with a malodorous slave ship, the captain's wife's pulse-racingly brief wardrobe, several hordes of pirates, mutiny, the ship's cook's fondness for curry - to name but a few. All the Tea in China is a swaggering, rip-snorting, buckler-swashing tale about one of the men who - for a reasonable fee - made Britain great. 'For those who have learnt to relish his elegant, nasty thrillers, Bonfiglioli is a name hard to forget. This farrago represents a change from the thrillers - a good clean salt-water yarn for the decadent' Irish Press 'Shows his customary inventive comedy and zest for language' Sunday Times 'Bonfiglioli deserves better than cult status' Independent Kyril Bonfiglioli was born on the south coast of England in 1928 of an English mother and Italo-Slovene father. After studying at Oxford and five years in the army, he took up a career as an art dealer, like his eccentric creation Charlie Mortdecai. He lived in Oxford, Lancashire, Ireland and Jersey, where he died in 1985. He wrote four Charlie Mortdecai novels, and a fifth historical Mortdecai novel (about a distinguished ancestor).

About this title

About the Author:

Kyril Bonfiglioli was born on the south coast of England in 1928 of an English mother and Italo-Slovene father. After studying at Oxford and five years in the army, he took up a career as an art dealer, like his eccentric creation Charlie Mortdecai. He lived in Oxford, Lancashire, Ireland and Jersey, where he died in 1985. He wrote the three Mortdecai novels, a fourth historical Mortdecai novel (about a distinguished ancestor), and left a fifth unpublished at his death - later completed by Craig Brown under the title The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery. All are published by Penguin.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School—Reissued 30 years after its initial American publication (Pantheon, 1978), All the Tea in China is the prequel to the author's "Mortdecai" trilogy (also reissued by Overlook, 2006). Karli Van Cleef is a 19th-century Dutch ancestor of Charlie Mortdecai. At the age of 19, having seduced and impregnated the daughter of a local lord, he finds it advisable to immigrate to England. There he sets up a modestly successful business selling Chinese porcelain. Soon, however, he sees the potential for even better profits in the opium trade and promptly takes ship for the Far East to make his fortune. The majority of the tale concerns Karli's voyage, where he must deal not only with the rigors of shipboard life, but also with pirates, mutineers, cannibals—and the Captain's wife. Karli is an amiable rogue, honest up to a point, with an eye both for his own self-interest and for whatever young women cross his path. This swashbuckling, mildly ribald adventure will appeal to teens who like historical fiction with a strong plot. With pirates continuing to be popular and the unlikelihood that libraries still own this—or ever did—for teens, young adult collection developers should take note.—Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0241971764
• ISBN 13: 9780241971765
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200