The Yellow Riding Jacket

This saga of the Lindleys, father and son, revolves around events that lead to the opening of China during the nineteenth century. The Chinese destroy British opium cargo, causing British invasion and annexation of Hong Kong. Lindley takes a Chinese wife, who bears him a son, Gus. Gus is educated in England, but his father dies. To rejoin his mother, Gus joins the Anglo-French campaign that vandalizes the summer palace. Gus switches sides to help a Chinese Christian insurgency against the Tartar emperor. Readers will apprecia

Richard Shen worked in foreign-aid programs during the Kennedy administration and participated in the think tank that established the Peace Corps. He joined the United Nations in 1968 and continued a career in international development, helping build seven colleges in six countries. In his professional career, Mr. Shen lived and worked in a dozen countries. He has written articles and stories on various cultural and travel subjects, including in Brazil, in Portuguese, and in Malaysia, in Chinese. The Yellow Riding Jacket is his fi rst full-length historical novel. He now lives in Hawaii.