Eastern Intrigue

My third fun-book this year was straight-up good fiction. Moving away from the memoirs, I read Maureen Lindley's The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel.
Stats:
Author: Maureen Lindley
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Date: 2008
My start date: 1-11-10
My finish date: 1-16-10

This book reminded me of what good old fashion pleasure reading should be: a pure escape. This story takes you far away to exotic locales and exotic (in my opinion) times. The book is a (fictionalized) retelling in the first person of the life of the Manchu Princess Eastern Jewel in the first part of the 20th century. Early on, the character's rebellious nature causes her father to ship her off to Japan, where she is adopted and takes the name Yoshiko Kawashima. She later returns to China as a Japanese spy and this novel recounts her perspective on all the various twists and turns her life takes.
Important to know: Yoshiko Kawashima was a historical person. In many, if not most instances, Lindley remains fairly true to the main historical facts of her relationships and her activities, to the best of our historical knowledge. The fascinating thing about this novel is that Kawashima is most decidedly not regarded as a positive figure in history. She was ruthless, cruel, addicted to sex and opium and lived a rather corrupt kind of life. This puts the reader in an interesting position. For a protagonist, she offers little in the way of "pros". You kind of want to hate her for most of the novel! Yet, at the same time, the story explains how she became the way that she way. Of course, we don't really know what the real Kawashima was thinking, so who knows how accurate Lindley's portrayel is, but it is fun to think about.
One great thing about this book is the setting. Again, just as the main character, the setting that Lindley is portraying is dark, dirty and corrupt, yet absolutely fascinating. Japan and China in the first half of the 20th century were both experiencing massive changes. I have always been interested in the Shanghai scene of the 20s and 30s. Think about the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, or the vivacious mixture of wealth, progress, corruption and poverty depicted the scenes of 1930s Shanghai in Lisa See's recent novel Shanghai Girls (which is another great book that I highly recommend). This period fascinates me, regardless of where in the world it is. There is something about that guildedness, that image of high glamour, tuxedos, wing-tip shoes, and night clubs just barely masking the poverty outside the door that piques my curiousity. Add to that mix the additional ingredients of Asian culture on the edge of change and the entire world facing war and you have a great setting. It doesn't hurt that Lindley's descriptive style really brings the images to you.
One further note about the vividness of Lindley's depiction of Kawashima's scandalous personality must be noted. I am not at all sure how much of this can be confirmed as true attributes of the historical Kawashima, but Lindley's character was decidedly obsessed with two things: drugs and sex of all kinds and descriptions. A good deal of the book is spent in describing Kawashima's many sexual encounters and opium highs. It certainly serves its purpose in establishing the character, and again, may very well be realistic, but just be informed that it is there!
So, setting aside that riveting novel, I am now caught up to my current read, which is Marek Halter's Sarah, a tale of the life of the Biblical Sarah, wife of Abraham. Quite a jump, from drug and sex addicted spies to women of the Old Testament, but then, hey, it keeps my life exciting.
Keep reading!
Sarah