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The Shanghai Wife

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( 706 ratings, 86 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Shanghai Wife by Emma Harcourt immerses readers in 1920s China, following a young Englishwoman who attempts to navigate the complexities of Shanghai's expatriate society. Amidst cultural clashes and political turmoil, she searches for her place in the world while facing both romance and danger in this vibrant, historical setting.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're intrigued by tales set in 1920s Shanghai, blending romance and adventure. It offers a glimpse into a woman's life, caught in the tide of cultural and political upheaval, making it an engaging read for fans of historical fiction with strong, complex characters.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Forbidden friendship, political conspiracy, and incendiary passion draw Australian woman Annie Brand deep into the glamour and turmoil of 1920s Shanghai.

Leaving behind the loneliness and trauma of her past in country Australia, Annie Brand arrives in the midst of the political upheaval and glittering international society of Shanghai in the 1920s. Journeying up the Yangtze with her new husband, the ship's captain, Annie revels in the sense of adventure. However, when her husband sends her back to Shanghai, her freedom is quickly curtailed.

Against her will, Annie finds herself living alone in the International Settlement, increasingly suffocated by the judgemental Club ladies and their exclusive social sceneβ€”one even more restrictive than the one she came from. Tired of salacious gossip and foreign condescension, and desperate to shake off the restrictions of her position in the world, Annie is slowly drawn into the bustling life and otherness of the real Shanghai. She begins to see the world from the perspective of the local people, including the servants who work at her husband's Club.

But this world is far more complex and dangerous than the curious Annie understands, and unknowingly, she becomes caught in a web of intrigue and conspiracy, as well as a passionate forbidden love affair she could not have predictedβ€”one with far-reaching consequences.

More Praise

"Emma's book is lyrical and beautiful... she has written a love story as dangerous and exotic as the worlds she describes." β€” Caroline Overington, author of The Lucky One and The One Who Got Away

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781489280947

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 June 2022

Country: Australia

Imprint: HQ Fiction

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 200.0mm

Weight: 242g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Emma Harcourt is an author, researcher and journalist. She began writing historical fiction while completing the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course and now spends all her available hours either researching history or writing about it. As a young adult she travelled to Florence to learn Italian and fell in love with the place. From there she moved to London where she lived for ten years before eventually returning to Australia to raise her son. She's now based in Sydney with her teenage daughters. When she's not writing or researching history, you'll find her reading in her garden. Emma is the author of critically lauded, internationally published bestseller The Shanghai Wife. Her second book, The Brightest Star, is set in Renaissance Florence. Photo: Noel Mclaughlin

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