The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure

by Adam Williams

Overview

Northern China, 1899. As the Boxer Rebellion erupts, a cast of innocents, fanatics, sinners, and lovers are drawn to the Palace of Heavenly Pleasure - an infamous brothel that overlooks an execution ground - where the fury of the East will meet the ideals of the West and all will face their destiny. Adam Williams's first novel is a historical tour-de-force and a triumphant return to traditional storytelling on a truly grand scale.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466872271
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/27/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	640
File size:	936 KB

About the Author

Adam Williams, whose family has lived in China since the late 19th century, was born and raised in Hong Kong. He is a businessman who for the last 18 years has been Chief Representative in Beijing for a Far East trading and services conglomerate. He was Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China from 1996-98. His books include The Emperor's Bones, The Dragon's Tail, and The Book of the Alchemist. He is married to Fumei and has two children. He lives in Beijing, China.

Adam Williams, whose family has lived in China since the late 19th century, was born and raised in Hong Kong. He is a businessman who for the last 18 years has been Chief Representative in Beijing for a Far East trading and services conglomerate. He was Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China from 1996-98. His books include The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure, The Emperor's Bones, The Dragon's Tail, and The Book of the Alchemist. He is married to Fumei and has two children. He lives in Beijing, China.

Editorial Reviews

Lavish in the manner of James Clavell and Leon Uris, this capacious and compelling saga centers on the Boxer Rebellion, a peasant uprising against the foreign colonization of China in 1900. More specifically, it follows the sensuously detailed love affair between Henry Manners, a Victorian secret agent, and Helen Frances Delamere, a convent-educated daughter of a local British soap merchant in the invented northern Chinese city of Shishan. The rest of the massive cast is headed by Dr. Edward Airton, a Scottish physician, who runs a hospital and mission in the city. Airton has become a philosophical sparring partner to the Mandarin, a local magistrate who holds absolute power. Airton's family and friends round out the foreign presence, and a host of Chinese characters bridge the cultural gap. The villains of the piece, apart from the bloodthirsty Boxers, are Mother Liu, madam of the exclusive brothel that gives the volume its title, and her sadistic son, Ren Ren. As the rebellion develops from dubious rumor to frightening fact, the Westerners in Shishan are forced to place themselves in Manners's intrepid but amoral hands. Williams's mastery of language and plotting keeps contrivance and coincidence at bay, although he crosses the line into melodrama from time to time. In all, this is a first-rate story, peopled by passionate, believable characters and rich in historical and political detail. Agent, Araminta Whitley. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The plot of this first novel is as intricate and multilayered as the interactions between Westerners and Chinese in Shishan in 1899. In this city in northeastern China, the Palace of Heavenly Pleasure, a brothel run by Mother Liu, holds secrets of torture and delight. Shishan's missionaries and businessmen have heard rumors of Boxer violence against Christians, but danger seems remote. Unfortunately, they cannot escape the rising anti-Western frenzy. Mother Liu's brutal son joins the rebels, using skills he honed breaking the spirits of male and female "recruits" for the Palace. Central to the cadre of Western characters is Henry Manners, ostensibly working for China Railways but spying for the British. His affair with Helen Frances Delamere, betrothed to another, scandalizes medical missionary Edward Airton. Yet they must join forces and compromise principles to escape certain death. Williams does not shy away from the Boxer Rebellion's violence, including many beheadings. Yet amid the graphic depictions Williams also conveys the differences in philosophical outlook that divide East and West as surely as the sword. The reader churns through the pages, trusting no one and fearing for everyone, and emerges breathless from a novelistic whirlwind. Recommended for most collections.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"A scintillating adventure polished by a dash of history...Entertaining, engaging and informative." —The Times

"An epic historical and romantic story as well as an impressive first novel."—The Sunday Mirror

"If you like derring-do, murderous characters, interesting sexual practices and intrigue, this is for you...Indulge in a heady, passionate drama." —The Daily Express

"A modern twist on the traditional historical epic." —The Guardian

"There is a cinematic feel to this novel, as the action shifts from one great set-piece to another." —The Independent

From the Publisher