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China Blues
The Roaring Twenties, Chinatown, San Francisco: back-street blues and bathtub gin… hardball mobsters and hardheaded cops… seductive speakeasies and sizzling scandals. As the young Louis Armstrong blows his horn in the infamous Blue Canary, impetuous Nob Hill Socialite Elizabeth Stafford Hamilton plunges into a reckless affair with mysterious Li Kwan Won. Unknown to Lizzie, Li is the overlord of the city’s vast bootlegging empire—and archenemy of her powerful husband, the San Francisco district attorney. Suddenly Lizzie’s privileged, upper-crust life is shadowed by danger and intrigue—as she’s trapped between her lover and her husband while they battle for control of the city.
Eio Books has reissued Ki Longfellow's first novel, published by Harper Collins in England in 1989.
Eio Books has reissued Ki Longfellow's first novel, published by Harper Collins in England in 1989.
456 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
47 people are currently reading
6158 people want to read
About the author
Ki Longfellow
20 books1,467 followersKi Longfellow, born on Staten Island, New York, to a French-Irish mother and an Iroquois father, grew up in Hawaii and Marin County, California, but ended up living in France and England for many years. She is the widow of a British national treasure, the complete artist Vivian Stanshall.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
March 21, 2012
I can't understand why this book wasn't a bestseller when it first came out. It has what any bestseller needs, and a lot more. Great characters, exciting plot, terrific writing. Perhaps it was just too close to literature? Longfellow can write anything.
November 5, 2012
Like Longfellow's other work, China Blues is fraught with stunning visual imagery that delicately builds a clear and conscious tableau at every page turn. The beautiful and tragic juxtaposition of Lizzie and Li only mirrors the clash of cultures happening all over San Francisco in the '20s. Longfellow makes every moment of even ordinary events she details, provocative and intense. She makes every instance of emotional intensity poignant and thoughtful. This book's hidden power to evoke and intrigue lies within Longfellow's mastery of human emotion and motivation. China Blues immerses the reader into the heart and soul of every agonizing thought and feeling of these characters. She can not only create a world that serves as the dazzling backdrop for the plot, she can fill this world with extravagant, dynamic, believable, and always nuanced people who the reader is loyal to.
China Blues is a piece of literary art that chips away at the barrier between man and the unknown of human nature. Like so much of Longfellow's work, it places a mirror up to the mysterious parts of humanity and offers us a frightening and lovely peek in.
China Blues is a piece of literary art that chips away at the barrier between man and the unknown of human nature. Like so much of Longfellow's work, it places a mirror up to the mysterious parts of humanity and offers us a frightening and lovely peek in.
June 23, 2012
I read this quite awhile ago and then I gave someone my copy. I've always wished I hadn't because I couldn't find it again. This is reissue, much more beautiful to look at than the originals.
It's a story of a woman in 1920s San Francisco who is very much like Jane Austen's Emma. She's spoiled and selfish, rich and bored. Out of her own selfish interests she destroys all she loves. But she finds her own heart. It's a hard lesson and sad to watch, but so interesting and entertaining, you can't take your eyes away.
It's a story of a woman in 1920s San Francisco who is very much like Jane Austen's Emma. She's spoiled and selfish, rich and bored. Out of her own selfish interests she destroys all she loves. But she finds her own heart. It's a hard lesson and sad to watch, but so interesting and entertaining, you can't take your eyes away.
May 6, 2012
I now read anything Longfellow writes. This seems to be her first published book. For a first book, it's highly polished.
China Blues is a witty, fast-paced, fascinating delight of a read, a close and colorful look at San Francisco in the early Jazz Age. But it's also a study of a young woman very much like Austen's Emma. Longfellow's heroine is rich, vain, and foolish, yet basically good-hearted in her headlong plunge into tragedy. To punish a distant husband, she seduces a Chinese tong leader. Ultimately she hurts all she dislikes but also all she loves. It's funny, exciting, and terribly sad.
China Blues is a witty, fast-paced, fascinating delight of a read, a close and colorful look at San Francisco in the early Jazz Age. But it's also a study of a young woman very much like Austen's Emma. Longfellow's heroine is rich, vain, and foolish, yet basically good-hearted in her headlong plunge into tragedy. To punish a distant husband, she seduces a Chinese tong leader. Ultimately she hurts all she dislikes but also all she loves. It's funny, exciting, and terribly sad.
September 5, 2012
Grabbed this when I learned it was published again. Already a fan after The Secret Magdalene and Flow Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria so I really wanted to read it. It was really worth it. A real snap crackle and pop through San Francisco's Chinatown. It's the Roaring Twenties. It's full of imported mobsters. And going behind the scenes of Chinese city life. Not to mention a terrific heroine whose character flaws are fascinating and ultimately a disaster for all. The writing is full of verve and wit. This was a first novel. As someone already said why didn't this hit the lists? With so much drivel out there, this one is a winner.
July 2, 2012
Even if I weren't already in love with this writer, who could resist this cover? I'm told that to be a success in the arts an artist has to make the same thing over and over. Longfellow makes a different thing each time. I read somewhere this was her first published book and she was trying to write the usual best seller. It's not the usual anything. It's smart and sassy and sad. The poor little rich girl messing with other people's lives in a rip roaring San Francisco of the 1920s. I have to say, I have other favorite authors, but not one of them can change gears like this writer can and keep her readers.
September 15, 2012
This was an absolute joy to read. I just raced through it. It's funny and fast and sad and colorful and just a heck of great read on a rainy day. Or any day, for that matter. Plus, you get to go behind the scenes in San Francisco's Chinatown back in the Roaring Twenties. The heroine is perfect. You want to shake her or hug her. Sometimes all at once.
November 29, 2012
If I hadn't read Flow Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria and The Secret Magdalene I would have given this book 5 stars. It's everything you'd want in a novel. But it doesn't carry the immense weight of the other two. If I hadn't just read Houdini Heart I wouldn't know how innovative this writer is. China Blues is a first novel. I've read somewhere it was meant to fit into the mainstream. It does. It's a book anyone could read. I honestly believe that if Longfellow didn't write so damned well, her books would be bestsellers. This Longfellow book is the stuff of bestsellers. Why it isn't (or wasn't since this is a beautiful reissue) beats me.
October 28, 2012
I was born in San Francisco. It's been a long time since I've seen it. But reading this roller-coaster of a book brought it back to me full blast. No, I'm not old enough to have known it in the Twenties, but it doesn't matter which San Francisco you know, Longfellow's San Francisco will sweep you up and carry you from the top of Nob Hill to South of the Slot. The Slot was the track running along the middle of Market Street once upon a time. South of it was a darker "Frisco." But it's Chinatown and Li and Lizzie who got me. I used to walk around all those little streets wondering about a world I never got to enter. After this book, I feel I've been there. As for Lizzie, I adored her, the minx, the idiot, the sad little rich girl, so foolish and wise.
November 23, 2012
A dizzy ride. You could say a dizzy dame except Lizzie Stafford Hamilton changes. Her character arc is a swooping adventure of the best kind. But at such cost to those around her. And did I love Li or what? And Kit. And Appetite Ike. Longfellow births the most amazing people. They're real. What they do is what they would do. And every scene follows the other at breathtaking pace, in perfect order. Loved this. You want a fast read that means something, that touches you? Here it is. Although why people want everything to be fast these days saddens me.
November 3, 2012
Fast fun exciting funny sad read. Appropriate for any age, but especially (IMO) for those who like a wonderfully well written love story between the races set in fascinating places and times. Rich Lizzie Stafford, plotting to take down her ambitious philandering husband (San Francisco's DA and poster boy for high political office to come), sets her sights on a scandal that ought to destroy him. She woos the very mysterious head of Chinatown's biggest Tong. What comes next is a page turner, something to make the heart speed up, even break. I really really loved it. Why four stars instead of five? I honestly don't know. I guess because five stars is reserved only for those things which change me in some way.
December 2, 2012
A kick in the head of a story. Fast and colorful and full of life both hilarious and tragic. Longfellow has a gift of putting you wherever she wants you to go. In this case, first you're in the middle of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and then you're in Chinatown, on top of Nob Hill, in newspaper offices, in dives and grand whorehouses. It's a great ride. Loved it!
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December 2, 2012loved it
February 8, 2024
When Los Angeles was a sun-blown pueblo waiting for the movie to begin, San Francisco was the city, a fabulous metropolis by the bay—straight streets driven reckless up her seven steep hills of yellow sand; tall buildings perched on the turbulent slopes like exclamation marks; humming docks and bursting warehouses nestled on landfill like smug frogs on a lily pad. She held back the ocean with a sieve. San Francisco, dancing on her hilltops for less than sixty years, was Queen of the West. Her people, immigrants from all nations of the world, were drawn to her by gold and silver, by adventure and open space, by the trade of a deepwater port second only to New York—by easy pickings, by land grabs, and by greed.
It was the end of the line, the edge of the world; it was as far as a man could go without falling off. The hustling bawdy city by the western sea opened an eye on the April dawn, totted up the odds on a new day, snuggled back against her soft sand hills, then fell out of bed with a bang. San Francisco was surprised.
Chinatowns have always fascinated me. Immigrant Chinese survived and thrived in any and every corner of the world they could find and their story of persistence, grit, brilliance, and talent in the face of systematic discrimination is astounding. Some then, had little choice but to turn to organized crime to realize their dreams of getting rich quick. Enter Li Kwan Won. I have a soft spot for deeply flawed women who try to make sense of the world around them and struggle against an unfair system. Enter Dido, Rose St Lorraine, and our stupid heroine Lizzie Stafford. Do I also have a weakness for talented-and-interesting-but-lazy reporters in a messy romantic situation? Enter Kit. Add a backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in America and I'm more than interested.
Ki Longfellow writes beautifully. Sometimes she sketches characters in great detail and at other times, a single line is enough to devastate. Every character, no matter how small a role he/she plays, is well-crafted and unique be it the thuggish and loyal Ike or the mean and despicable hitman Murray Blinn. Her rich descriptions of San Francisco, especially the Barbary Coast, bring the city and its glittering rot to life.
However, I think that certain events in the story moved too fast for my taste. We never really get a glimpse of Li Kwan Won's inner workings, we can only guess and conjecture at his true intentions and I wished he could have been a better-rounded character. If the language seems stereotypical and faintly smacking of Orientalism, I think Longfellow wanted to accurately depict the Chinese and Chinatown from a white, fairly racist 1920s perspective. It took me a while to get used to it though.
The love affair between Lizzie and Li Kwan Won a fact apparent from at least the middle of the novel and a fate all too common for interracial relationships then. But Lizzie's transformation is worth the perhaps predictable romance.
The seven hills of the city shivered. Sleek and jumpy San Francisco, grand and glittery city, waited, poised for a leap into the vast blue Pacific. Maybe not now, maybe not for a hundred years—but she would jump. What is a hundred years to the patient sea?
It was the end of the line, the edge of the world; it was as far as a man could go without falling off. The hustling bawdy city by the western sea opened an eye on the April dawn, totted up the odds on a new day, snuggled back against her soft sand hills, then fell out of bed with a bang. San Francisco was surprised.
Chinatowns have always fascinated me. Immigrant Chinese survived and thrived in any and every corner of the world they could find and their story of persistence, grit, brilliance, and talent in the face of systematic discrimination is astounding. Some then, had little choice but to turn to organized crime to realize their dreams of getting rich quick. Enter Li Kwan Won. I have a soft spot for deeply flawed women who try to make sense of the world around them and struggle against an unfair system. Enter Dido, Rose St Lorraine, and our stupid heroine Lizzie Stafford. Do I also have a weakness for talented-and-interesting-but-lazy reporters in a messy romantic situation? Enter Kit. Add a backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in America and I'm more than interested.
Ki Longfellow writes beautifully. Sometimes she sketches characters in great detail and at other times, a single line is enough to devastate. Every character, no matter how small a role he/she plays, is well-crafted and unique be it the thuggish and loyal Ike or the mean and despicable hitman Murray Blinn. Her rich descriptions of San Francisco, especially the Barbary Coast, bring the city and its glittering rot to life.
However, I think that certain events in the story moved too fast for my taste. We never really get a glimpse of Li Kwan Won's inner workings, we can only guess and conjecture at his true intentions and I wished he could have been a better-rounded character. If the language seems stereotypical and faintly smacking of Orientalism, I think Longfellow wanted to accurately depict the Chinese and Chinatown from a white, fairly racist 1920s perspective. It took me a while to get used to it though.
The love affair between Lizzie and Li Kwan Won a fact apparent from at least the middle of the novel and a fate all too common for interracial relationships then. But Lizzie's transformation is worth the perhaps predictable romance.
The seven hills of the city shivered. Sleek and jumpy San Francisco, grand and glittery city, waited, poised for a leap into the vast blue Pacific. Maybe not now, maybe not for a hundred years—but she would jump. What is a hundred years to the patient sea?
November 15, 2012
A terrific fast paced read. I think Longfellow meant it to be a racy throwaway, but accomplished instead actual literature anyone can read and love. How could you not love an affair between the head of a Chinese tong and a rich spoiled harebrained white girl? Or the coming-of-age of a great newspaper reporter who saw it all? Or the whole San Francisco earthquake described in page after thrilling page? And so much more.
December 5, 2012
Total joy!
December 12, 2012
Take a spoiled brat, throw her into a world she can't control, add wonderful writing, a wonderful setting, a host of colorful characters, a time in our history that fascinates (me, anyway), early jazz, early newspapers, an actual mystery in the to-this-day unexplained sudden death of the President of the United States, Warren G. Harding -- a doofus very like George W. Bush, mix it all up and you get this wonderful book.
December 9, 2012
A wonderfully written romp through the San Francisco of 1923, after a great opener during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. If you've ever hungered to wander through the real Chinatown of tongs and opium dens, or to know what goes on in those big houses on Nob Hill, this is your book. It's a humdinger and I loved every sassy word of it.
December 15, 2012
I'm with the reviewer who said "Loved it" and the one who said "what joy." It isn't funny all the through, and it isn't happy all the way (what is?) but the end result is a treat of a read that beats so much popular stuff all hollow. I guess it just doesn't get those big numbers because Longfellow forgot the vampires and just went with great writing and a thrilling story.
December 16, 2012
I read this when it was first published. Just read it again in its new form. It's as fresh and punchy as I remembered it. Actually I liked it more this time. That's the funny thing about books. They're different each time you read them. A BIG RECOMMENDATION for those who'd like a great read about San Francisco and Chinatown and historical mysteries and brilliant color and characters.
December 10, 2012
I've never been to San Francisco. But now I feel like I've made a thorough visit to early Twentieth Century San Francisco. In this wonderfully diverting story, I fell headlong into the plot and the setting. It was all a strange and exciting adventure for me in a whole world I never knew existed. What fun.
December 6, 2012
Terrific read. Witty, fast-paced, San Francisco in its early glory, Chinatown in its mystery, the earthquake, gangsters, fast talking newspapermen, speakeasies, a confused rich girl messing with forces she doesn't understand - GREAT.
December 18, 2012
Yo nadaba como un pez en este libro. A veces se sumerge profundamente en la literatura, a veces juega como un niño. Me encantó cada palabra. Me reí y lloré.
February 29, 2024
So it took me about a month, but I am finally done with China Blues. My thoughts on it are a little all over because I read it in the thick of finals, and this would've been a very fast read otherwise.
Good things: snappy dialogue, fast-paced plot, jazz, liquor, blues, old money, and gangsters.
Bad things: God is this painful to read as a Chinese-American. Pamela Longfellow clearly tried to show how the racism of the time was Not Okay, but manages to veer heavily into "the Orientals are inhuman and exotic and will never be Real Americans" camp. I understand the use of slurs such as "chink" when coming from the mouths of characters, however, it is not really okay to sprinkle "chink" ever so liberally into the descriptions. Also, do not EVER describe someone's face as "Chinese" because if you meet more than two Asian people at a time you might find, surprise of surprises, that Asians have a multitude of facial characteristics and don't all actually look alike. Li is so clearly written by a white person that it hurts. It sucks, because I like the book, I honest to god do, but as a Chinese person, I take great offense to Chinese characters who are badly written, because there is already such a dearth of Asian-American characters in American media that the last thing I can stomach is badly written orientalism.
Also I hated the protagonist, because although I like how flawed she was, she was so stupid it hurt! Also personally irked by how she started wearing cheongsam halfway through the book because you can't just throw away your life and adopt some exotic clothing while literally still having no understanding of the real lives of actual Chinese women. How exactly like a privileged rich white woman. How on earth did she manage to get Kit's attention at all?
ALSO the ending SUCKED and destroyed literally everything the last half of the book was setting up and was also SUCH A COP OUT and should I mention that I totally saw it coming but hoped against hope that the author wouldn't take the easy way out?
The Orientalism thing just really gets to me. Life is short and I'd rather read books by Asian-Americans, or books that don't fall into cringe-worthy orientalism.
Good things: snappy dialogue, fast-paced plot, jazz, liquor, blues, old money, and gangsters.
Bad things: God is this painful to read as a Chinese-American. Pamela Longfellow clearly tried to show how the racism of the time was Not Okay, but manages to veer heavily into "the Orientals are inhuman and exotic and will never be Real Americans" camp. I understand the use of slurs such as "chink" when coming from the mouths of characters, however, it is not really okay to sprinkle "chink" ever so liberally into the descriptions. Also, do not EVER describe someone's face as "Chinese" because if you meet more than two Asian people at a time you might find, surprise of surprises, that Asians have a multitude of facial characteristics and don't all actually look alike. Li is so clearly written by a white person that it hurts. It sucks, because I like the book, I honest to god do, but as a Chinese person, I take great offense to Chinese characters who are badly written, because there is already such a dearth of Asian-American characters in American media that the last thing I can stomach is badly written orientalism.
Also I hated the protagonist, because although I like how flawed she was, she was so stupid it hurt! Also personally irked by how she started wearing cheongsam halfway through the book because you can't just throw away your life and adopt some exotic clothing while literally still having no understanding of the real lives of actual Chinese women. How exactly like a privileged rich white woman. How on earth did she manage to get Kit's attention at all?
ALSO the ending SUCKED and destroyed literally everything the last half of the book was setting up and was also SUCH A COP OUT and should I mention that I totally saw it coming but hoped against hope that the author wouldn't take the easy way out?
The Orientalism thing just really gets to me. Life is short and I'd rather read books by Asian-Americans, or books that don't fall into cringe-worthy orientalism.
December 14, 2012
A completely different book from this writer's other books. Lighter, frothier, funnier, faster - but just as well written and just as insightful. So colorful. So full of vivid scenes, times and characters. It takes place the year the president of the United States is paying a quick visit to San Francisco. Politics hasn't changed, crime hasn't changed, the nature of the rich hasn't changed. This is the solution (fanciful?) of what could have happened to Harding in Frisco told in the midst of wild action, conniving, bootlegging, earthquakes, hot jazz, a young city, and completely realized characters - especially Lizzie Stafford Hamilton, an Emma for our times. Terrific.
February 2, 2013
Not sure what to say about this book except it is a fast moving good read that I really enjoyed (five stars!).
It's set during an interesting period in San Francisco history, so you learn so history just by reading the story (but it's not a history book!).
It's historical fiction, but that does not really matter. It's easy to get a feeling for the times and it does not seem like you've ended up in some foreign world.
Full of drama, humor, pathos, and fascinating characters.
I guess that is it. If you are looking for entertainment... read it.
It's set during an interesting period in San Francisco history, so you learn so history just by reading the story (but it's not a history book!).
It's historical fiction, but that does not really matter. It's easy to get a feeling for the times and it does not seem like you've ended up in some foreign world.
Full of drama, humor, pathos, and fascinating characters.
I guess that is it. If you are looking for entertainment... read it.
December 30, 2012
I would have given this 5 stars if I didn't have to compare it to the author's other books. Maybe that isn't fair. Maybe it should be judged solely on its own merit. I loved it. I'll go away and think about my choice. It really does deserve 5 stars. My opinion anyway.
December 13, 2012
Great read. I'd recommend this to anyone. It was like cake. I wanted to eat it all at once, but I made myself slow down and savor it. Loved it.
July 27, 2013
A colorful novel, even vivid, taking you into a real life deep breathing San Francisco both during the 1906 earthquake, then later in 1923 when the President of the United States, the gormless Warren G. Harding, came to town to die. It's chock full of wild and wonderful characters on both sides of the law, all worthy of attention, but its leads are forever memorable. Li, the Chinese kid who grew up to be a kingpin of the Chinese Tongs. Kit Dowie, a wild eyed rascal who dreamed of writing like Damon Runyon. And Lizzie, a spoiled brat from the top of Nob Hill, who grows up right in front of your face... at terrible cost. The writing is fast and sharp and biting and witty. This was a hell of a read.
January 27, 2013
A terrific read. Full of dash and color. San Francisco's one of my favorite cities in all the world. This story gets into places you could never see as a tourist, and barely see as a native. It has a fascinating heroine, a fascinating love triangle, the mysterious death of Harding, at the time the President of the United States with the Teapot Dome Scandal about to burst over his head. Best of all it has gangsters vs a Chinese Tong. The leader of the Tong is just about the sexiest man I've ever met in a book. Oh, if he were real. Wonderful book. I miss it already.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews