Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Our Hart: Elegy for a Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on February 11, 2010
Posted in Books Read in 2010China  | 11 Comments

Last year, I had the opportunity to review the award winning ‘My Splendid Concubine‘ by Lloyd Lofthouse. I really enjoyed it and told Lloyd that I would love to review his sequel. Luckily, he took me up on and my offer.
‘Our Hart’ is the continuation of the fictionalized account of the real person, Robert Hart. In ‘My Splendid Concubine’ he was an interpreter for the British Consulate in China. He fell in love with two concubines, Ayaou and her younger sister Shao-mei. At the end of the book, Shao-mei, was killed by someone out to get revenge on Robert.
In ‘our Hart’, Robert and Ayaou grieve over Shao-mei and Robert tries to better protect Ayaou. As his career grows, so does his family. Ayaou has children and their eunuch servant, Guan-Jiah becomes a surrogate uncle for the children. Robert became the deputy commissioner of customs for the Ch’ing dynasty in his late 20’s. and it kept him away from his family for long stretches at a time. He was indispensible to the dynasty and work for them in to his senior year. They fondly referred to him as “Our Hart”.
Our Hart is the story of Robert’s lifelong career in China and his relationship with Ayaou and his lifetime servant, Guan-Jiah. Lloyd Lofthouse does a great job pacing the story and keeping the reader engaged. I thought the story got a bit repetitive with Ayaou’s whining and questioning Robert’s love but other than that it was a great story. Note, that I read an uncorrected proof, so perhaps some of Ayaou’s whining was reduced. 
Though ‘Our Hart’ could be read as a standalone book, I highly recommend that you read ‘My Splendid Concubine’ first, as it gives you quite a bit of background that makes ‘Our Hart’ a richer read. I highly recommend both of these books to historical fiction lovers who are interested in Chinese culture.

If you are interested in learning more about the books, Robert Hart, and China, Lloyd Lofthouse has a blog with some great links to explore.  It is called, Learning China.

4/5
Thanks to Paula Krapf and Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. and Lloyd Lofthouse for a copy of this book.
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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Stirring Portrait of an Artist

Pan Yuliang never envisioned that her life would turn out like this. When her mother died, she was sent to her uncle’s house. He raised her along with the help of a maid. She was to be promised to a man and then be married. That is what her mother’s wish for her and a promise from her uncle.
However, her uncle had a drug habit and ran out of money. He had to get drugs somehow, so he sold Yuliang into prostitution at the age of 14.

She was brought to “The Hall of Eternal Splendor” and was taught the ways of seduction and “bed business.”

She was told to seduce the new inspector, Pan Zanhua. This was very important so that he could be kept in line and continue turning a blind eye, as the old inspector did. However, it did not work out that way. He could not be bought. He didn’t fall for the hook as much as he was attracted to Yuliang.

Yuliang knew her fate. “Grandmother,” the madam would beat her unmercifully. Pan Zanhua saw she was crying and he got her to tell him the truth. Zanhua rescued her from her fate and took her in as his concubine.

Zanhua really believed in equality and gave Yuliang an education. She became fascinated with art and started sketching. As her career as an artist took off both her and Zanhua become torn between her success and their love for each other.

Pan Yuliang was a real person, a famous artist. This book of historical fiction fills in what parts of her life may have been like. Jennifer cody Epstein really did her research and paints a colourful portrait of the life of Pan Yaliang. I felt like I was there as a witness to everything she endured and her triumph as an artist. The characters are believable and the writing is beautiful and richly textured.

This books is a real page turner and kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. I just couldn’t put it down! I cannot recommend this book high enough. It does not disappoint!

5/5

Thanks to Lisa with TLC Book Tours for inviting me to participate in this book tour!

Baby Arms by Pan Yuliang

Here is the line-up for other stops on the book tour:

Tuesday, June 2nd: The Literate Housewife Review
Wednesday, June 3rd: Book-a-Rama
Thursday, June 4th: Book Nut
Monday, June 8th: She is Too Fond of Books
Tuesday, June 9th: S. Krishna’s Books
Wednesday, June 10th: Becky’s Book Reviews
Thursday, June 11th: Redlady’s Reading Room
Monday, June 15th: Dolce Bellezza
Tuesday, June 16th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, June 17th: A Work in Progress
Monday, June 22nd: Beth Fish Reads
Tuesday, June 23rd: Do They Have Salsa in China?
Wednesday, June 24th: Bookworm with a View
Thursday, June 25th: So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Friday, June 26th: Savvy Verse and Wit
Monday, June 29th: Nerd’s Eye View
Tuesday, June 30th: Pop Culture Junkie

Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Splendid Novel

This book is a fictionalized account of Robert Hart who was known as the ‘Godfather of China’s modernism’. Hart was born and raised in Ireland . In 1854 we went to China to work for the British Consulate as an interpreter.

Robert Hart was set on making up for his days of drinking and womanizing in Ireland. He went to China to prove himself and “grow up.” When faced with the possibility of getting a concubine for himself, he felt quite conflicted. However, it was what men did in China, even most of the “foreign devils”. He got a Chinese instructor and immersed himself in Chinese customs and culture.

He did end up getting two concubines, his first year in China. Ayaou and her younger sister Shao-mei. He taught Ayaou and Shao-mei how to read and enjoyed life with them both.
When he first met Ayaou, it was love at first site. He planned to buy her from her father but Ward, an American Opium smuggler, beat him to it. He was devastated and set out to rescue her from Ward, who is known for his mistreatment of his concubines. Robert does end up with Ayaou but with tragic consequences.

It took Lloyd Lofthouse close to 9 years to research and write this wonderful book. The pages kept on turning late into the night. This novel mostly covers Robert Hart’s life in China for his first year. He did eventually move on from the British Consulate and became Inspector General of Chinese Mandarin Customs, the Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent of the Ch’ing dynasty, and the chief adviser for the Emperor.

My only complaint is that I would have liked to have learned more about Hart and how he became so important to China. I also would have liked to know what finally happened to Ayaou. This book is only 250 pages and I wish that it would have been long enough to touch on these important details. Could there be a book II in the works? I hope so!

I highly recommend this book! Be forewarned, there are some juicy sex scenes in this book. If that kind of thing bothers you, don’t read this book.

4/5

Thanks so much to Lloyd Lofthouse for sending me his book! Lloyd, if there is going to be a sequel, please send it my way!

Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.