The Phoenix Crown - by Kate Quinn & Janie Chang (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

From bestselling authors Janie Chang and Kate Quinn, a thrilling and unforgettable narrative about the intertwined lives of two wronged women, spanning from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles.

San Francisco, 1906. In a city bustling with newly minted millionaires and scheming upstarts, two very different women hope to change their fortunes in this compelling historical fiction: Gemma, a golden-haired, silver-voiced soprano whose career desperately needs rekindling, and Suling, a petite and resolute Chinatown embroideress who is determined to escape an arranged marriage. Their paths cross when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing's fallen Summer Palace.

His patronage offers Gemma and Suling the chance of a lifetime, but their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a web of secrets and lies reaching further than anyone could have imagined . . . until the Phoenix Crown reappears five years later at a sumptuous Paris costume ball, drawing Gemma and Suling together as unlikely allies in one last desperate quest for justice.

Review Quotes

"When two masters of historical fiction team up, it's like 1+1=1000. I'm in awe of this impeccably researched, magnificently rendered, and breathlessly paced tale that kept me up late into the night reading, reflecting, and delving into the haunting true stories that inspired this novel. I cannot wait to recommend The Phoenix Crown to my own book club."

"[A] seamless collaboration of two terrific novelists." - Washington Post

"Quinn (The Diamond Eye) and Chang (The Porcelain Moon) team up for a stirring story. Readers of historicals with strong female leads will savor this." - Publishers Weekly

"Quinn and Chang have teamed up to write a powerful and surprising triumph of historical fiction. Lushly detailed, richly imagined, and utterly satisfying, The Phoenix Crown will entrance readers." - Booklist (starred review)

"Action-packed, this novel skillfully uses its strong female leads to examine racism, sexism, and classism. Readers won't want to put this one down." - Historical Novels Review

"What Kate Quinn and Janie Chang have accomplished in their new novel, THE PHOENIX CROWN, is phenomenal. In this compelling and extremely touching novel, Quinn and Chang have created characters whom we will remember long after we have turned the last page." - Bookreporter.com

"An irresistible proposition for a gifted operatic soprano. The double lives of a talented young Chinese woman and her artist lover. A tenacious, globe-trotting female botanist. The legendary crown of an Empress. The devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the ensuing rampant, deadly fire. Brilliant authors Kate Quinn and Janie Chang weave these threads together into seamless, page-turning masterpiece of history and suspense -- shot through with women rising up from the margins of society to claim their own singular futures. I could not put this triumphant novel down." - Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of THE FIRST LADIES and THE MITFORD AFFAIR

"Oh my goodness, I couldn't put this book down! Heart-pounding, gasp-out-loud storytelling--THE PHOENIX CROWN is the best book I've read all year." - Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling author of THE FIRST LADIES and THE MITFORD AFFAIR