The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel - Softcover

Lindley, Maureen

3.44

1,876 ratings by Goodreads

9780747596264: The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747596263 ISBN 13: 9780747596264

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2009

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Language:Chinese.Paperback. Pub Date :2009-1-1 Pages:. 288 Peking. 1914 Eight-year-old Eastern Jewel peers from behind a screen as her father. Prince Su. makes love to a servantgirl Caught spying by her thirteenth sister. Eastern. Jewelssexual curiosity sees her banished to live with distant relativesin Tokyo. then forced into a passionless marriage in freezingMongolia Increasingly isolated. at night she is plagued bydisturbing fantasies and unsettling dreams But she refuses to bepinned down by anyone -.. least of all a man - and in the dazzlingcity of Shanghai she puts her thrill-seeking nature to work spyingfor the Japanese. spurmng everything she once held dear ... Based on the real-life story of Yoshiko Kawashima. Chineseprincess turned ruthless Japanese spy. The Private Papers ofEastern Jewel is an intoxicating tale of sexual manipulationandself-discovery that spans thr...

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About the Author:

Maureen Lindley was born in Berkshire and grew up in Scotland. Having worked as a photographer, antique dealer and dress designer, she eventually trained as a psychotherapist. She has one daughter and lives in the Wye valley on the Welsh borders with her husband. This is her first novel.

From Publishers Weekly:

Based on the life of a Qing dynasty princess, this engrossing debut gives the rebellious Eastern Jewel a sensuous, unsentimental voice that draws admiration despite remorseless selfishness. In 1914 Manchuria, the curious, headstrong eight-year-old is sent to live with her father's blood brother Kawashima, who adopts her and renames her Yoshiko. She settles into her new life as a second-tier family member, at odds with the stepmother she secretly longs to please. Precocious, rebellious and beautiful, Yoshiko loses her virginity to her adopted grandfather at 15 and is seduced by her adopted father a year later; her further sexual adventures eventually leave her sterile. Inevitably, Kawashima marries her off, to a Mongolian prince. Unhappy in Mongolia, Yoshiko escapes to Tokyo, where she becomes a professional mistress, and then to Shanghai. As Japan and China tumble into war, one of Yoshiko's new lovers recruits her as a spy; American reporter Jack Stone soon arrives to further complicate matters of loyalty and righteousness. This lush, challenging portrait of a woman who dared to make her own choices—bad though they were—in terrible, oppressive times also makes a steamy historical beach read. (Sept.)
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