Blue Dress Girl
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- Synopsis
- When She-she is sent as a concubine to the household of Li Hung, chief customs official for the busy port of Canton, her parents impress upon her the honour of her position. But the reality proves to be far from honourable. For She-she finds she is to be a blue dress girl, little better than a prostitute, whose task is to pleasure visiting foreign traders. Ashamed and terrified, She-she finds life tolerable only because of her friendship with the lively Kau-lin. It is not long before her first "foreign devil", an English trader, comes to call; but she is spared the ultimate disgrace when he dies unexpectedly in her room. With Britain and China already virtually at war, the suspicious death of an Englishman provokes further hostility, and Li Hung sends the blue dress girls along the coast to the north to avoid incriminating himself. It is to prove a fateful journey. When their boat is caught in crossfire, She-she is badly injured. To her rescue comes Second Lieutenant Kernow Keats of the Royal Marines. Instantly moved by her fragile beauty, the young man takes her and Kau-lin to Hong Kong, to the home of missionaries Hugh and Hannah Jefferies, where she can regain her strength. Kernow's aptitude for languages makes him a natural choice to become an interpreter on Admiral Seymour's staff, and although he does not wish to desert active combat, he welcomes the chance to spend more time in the company of the pretty girl Fate has thrown in his path. On She-she's side, gratitude soon turns to love for the handsome hero. But a love affair between a Chinese peasant girl and an English officer seems unthinkable in 1857. And as the Taiping rebellion gets underway, Kernow is torn from She-she's side to do his patriotic duty. Can their great love cross the chasm of race, class and background that divides them? E. V. Thompson's new novel is a masterpiece of storytelling. At once a stirring tale of adventure and a moving and tender love story, it is played out against the exotic background of China at one of the most turbulent periods in its history.
- Copyright:
- 1992
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 401 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780747205906
- Publisher:
- N/A
- Date of Addition:
- 01/08/02
- Copyrighted By:
- E. V. Thompson
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Romance, Literature and Fiction
- Submitted By:
- Laura Hall
- Proofread By:
- Laura Hall
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.