The lives of two women living in Hong Kong more than a
century apart are unexpectedly linked by forbidden love and financial scandal.
In 2016, Patricia Findlay leaves a high-powered career
to move to Hong Kong, where she hopes to rekindle the bonds of family and
embrace the city of her ancestors. Instead, she is overwhelmed by feelings of
displacement and depression. To make matters worse, her father, CEO of the
family bank, insists that Patricia’s duty is to produce an heir, even though
she has suffered three miscarriages.
In 1912, when Isabel Taylor moves to Hong Kong with
her husband, Henry, and their young daughter, she struggles to find her place
in such a different world and to meet the demands of being the admiral’s wife.
At a reception hosted by the governor of Hong Kong, she meets Li Tao-Kai, an
influential member of the Chinese community and a man she met a decade earlier
when he was a student at Cambridge.
As the story unfolds, each woman must consider where
her loyalties lie and what she is prepared to risk for love.
Trigger Warnings:
Brief sex scenes
Praise:
“Family secrets and personal ambitions, east and west,
collide in this compelling, deeply moving novel." -- Weina Dai
Randel, award-winning author of THE LAST ROSE OF SHANGHAI
“Irresistible and absorbing.” Janie Chang, bestselling author of THE
LIBRARY OF LEGENDS
Buy Links:
Amazon Universal Link
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( ¸.•´✶
EXCERPT
June
1912 – The theater
looked surprisingly modest. Indeed, Isabel would not have imagined the plain
gray exterior and simple wooden door to house anything of significance, if it
weren’t for the strings of red paper lanterns spanning the trees in front. Mr.
Li and his wife were waiting in the lobby, a small space decked out in vivid
red and gold.
Li
Tao-Kai greeted her with a slight bow. “Mrs. Taylor, how good to see you.”
Earlier,
Isabel had asked Ah Lam to teach her how to say hello in Cantonese. She’d
practiced the two sounds several times to much amusement from her housemaid. As
far as she could discern, hello sounded like “neigh hoe,” which she said
now to both Wen Lee Chu and Li Tao-Kai. Her greeting brought smiles to their
faces.
“I’m
delighted to be here,” she continued. “Allow me to introduce Miss Fletcher.”
When
responding to the invitation, she’d mentioned that Henry would not be able to
join them. It was Li Tao-Kai who had suggested she bring a friend. For the sake
of propriety, then, Muriel accompanied her to the opera. Glancing around at the
almost exclusively Chinese audience, Isabel was relieved. She didn’t relish the
notion of being a single white woman in the company of an Asian couple.
Unlike
London theaters, here it seemed that those attending did not mingle while
drinking cocktails or champagne before the performance but instead took their
seats upon arrival. Wen Lee Chu led the way into a large, two-story room unlike
anything Isabel had ever seen.
Like
the lobby, red and gold were in liberal use along with touches of green, blue,
and black. The first-floor stage was square and thrust into the main seating
area at least thirty feet. A black curtain with an intricate scene of flowers
and trees in silver and gold was draped across the back of the stage. Red
stairs allowed actors to mount to the smaller second-story stage where the
backdrop was red and an enormous brass gong was mounted on a stand and flanked
by marble-topped tables set on what looked like ceramic dragons.
As
for seating, rows of dark wooden chairs stretched from side to side, and
similar chairs painted with red lacquer populated the balconies, where painted
silk banners defined each separate box. The buzz of conversation rose as more
and more people entered the hall.
“Let
me tell you a little bit about the opera we will see tonight,” Li Tao-Kai said
after they were seated in the upper balcony level. “It’s called Legend of
the White Snake—a Chinese fairytale about a snake spirit who falls in love
with a man. Chinese legends often involve spirits. This snake spirit takes on
the form of a woman, and the man falls in love with her. They get married.
Unfortunately, another spirit is jealous and exposes the woman as a snake. This
causes her husband to have a heart attack and die. Of course, being a spirit,
she is able to bring him back to life . . . but more troubles follow.”
Wen
Lee Chu leaned towards her husband and spoke softly.
“My
wife wants me to tell you that it’s one of China’s great folk tales.”
Smiles
and nods followed this statement.
“The
opera is about to begin,” he said. “I hope you find it interesting.”
The
lights dimmed and a gong sounded. The audience quieted until all that could be
heard was the faint rustle of clothing. On the balcony stage, an actor appeared
dressed in white, his long black hair pulled back from his face, his brows and
eyes heavily accented with makeup. He raised a wooden mallet and struck the
brass gong which reverberated across the hall and then the performance began.
For
the next hour, Isabel’s attention was riveted to the stage. The story played
out in music, song, mime, dance, and even acrobatics. The costumes were
magnificent creations: long, flowing gowns in blue or white with occasional
bits of red. Banners swooped and fluttered in the hands of the actors, at times
suggesting water, at other times birds, clouds, or snakes. Flags, lanterns,
umbrellas, pikes, and swords appeared with dramatic flourish. Symbols clanged,
drums beat, horns blared. Castanets, bells, lutes, and reed pipes added to the
tumult of sound. At times, these instruments were so loud that the actors sang
in a piercing style to be heard. To her Western ear, these songs were more
noise than music.
“Now
there’s a brief intermission,” Li Tao-Kai said. He rose to his feet. “Did you
find it enjoyable?”
“Fascinating,”
Isabel said. “There’s so much color and movement. It’s very different from our
opera.”
“And
you, Miss Fletcher?”
“Wonderful,
Mr. Li. It was like a combination of ballet, athletics, and opera. The actors
are superb. The lead female expresses such emotion in her gestures that at
times I felt I could understand what she was saying.”
“A
performer’s skill is judged by the beauty of their movements,” Li Tao-Kai said.
“This particular actress is well known in Peking opera circles, and we are
fortunate to have her here in Hong Kong.”
Wen
Lee Chu touched her husband’s arm and spoke at length.
“My
wife says these ancient legends tell us that all things may grow and change. A
snake may become a woman, for example. A plant may become an animal. A human
may become a god. And naturally, the reverse is also true. In tonight’s play,
the snake becomes a woman. But she wants more. She wants love.”
“Perhaps
such tales of growth and change symbolize our desire as humans to strive for
more,” Muriel said. “More wealth, more beauty, a happier family, and so on.”
“An
interesting observation, Miss Fletcher. Do you think we should all be content
with our lot in life?” As he spoke, Li Tao-Kai looked directly at the
governess, a slight frown marking his concentration.
Based
on the blush in Muriel’s cheeks, Isabel assumed she was embarrassed by the
intensity of Mr. Li’s gaze. I wonder if she’s has ever had a man in her
life. The thought made her realize she’d never asked; indeed, she knew
little of Muriel’s personal life except that her father had died, and Muriel
had lived with her mother and younger siblings before becoming Georgiana’s
governess.
Muriel
drew her shoulders back and stood a little taller. “I think there’s a
distinction between bettering oneself and tromping on others in a desire to get
ahead. Or for that matter, denying the roots that gave one a start in life.”
“You
make an excellent point, Miss Fletcher.”
Li
Tao-Kai spent a moment chatting with his wife. He seemed to want to include
her, despite her inability to converse in English. Based on the few comments
Wen Lee Chu had already made, Isabel wondered if perhaps she understood some
English but was uncomfortable speaking it.
“Mrs.
Taylor told me that you went to Cambridge,” Miss Fletcher said. “Did you enjoy
your time there?”
“It
was difficult to fit in as a young Chinese man. My father made sure I spoke
English before I went so there wasn’t a language barrier. Fortunately, I was
good at sports.”
Isabel
imagined the attitudes he would have encountered from the British upper-class
men who attended places like Cambridge and Oxford. Men who felt entitled to
wealth and position merely because they were born into it. Men she had
socialized with in the heady days before marriage.
“What
sports did you play?” Isabel asked.
“Tennis
and cricket. I was reasonably good at them, which helped me be accepted. In the
upper years, I had quite a few good friends. They called me Teddy.”
“Teddy?”
she said.
“Yes.
Tao-Kai seemed unnecessarily foreign. Teddy Li was much easier for everyone.”
“Did
you enjoy your time in England, Mr. Li?” Muriel asked.
“Very
much. I enjoyed your British culture and way of life. There are many things to
admire about it. Unfortunately, my family disapproves of these sentiments.”
Tao-Kai’s
admission surprised Isabel. However, the intermission came to an end as another
gong sounded and she was unable to question him further.
Isabel
thought about the evening while getting ready for bed. Li Tao-Kai had been the
perfect host—solicitous and informative, blending serious conversation with
more lighthearted matters. Just like the evening at government house, he’d been
attentive to his wife, but Isabel hadn’t observed any signs of great affection
between them. Was theirs an arranged marriage? Were arranged marriages the
custom for Hong Kong Chinese?
Sights
and sounds from the opera lingered in her mind. According to Wen Lee Chu, the
meaning of the story was that all things may grow and change but that change
might come in unexpected ways. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered how
Hong Kong would change her and her family.
M.K. Tod
M.K. (Mary) Tod’s interest in historical fiction began as a teenager
immersed in the stories of Rosemary Sutcliff, Jean Plaidy, and Georgette Heyer.
In 2004, her husband’s career took them to Hong Kong where, with no job and few
prospects, Mary began what became Unravelled, her first novel. The Admiral’s Wife is her fifth novel.
Mary’s award-winning blog, www.awriterofhistory.com, focuses on reading and writing historical fiction. She’s an active
member of the historical fiction community and has conducted five unique reader
surveys on topics from readers’ habits and preferences to favorite historical
fiction authors. Mary is happily married to her high-school sweetheart. They
have two adult children and two delightful grandsons.
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