The Blue Dress Girl

by E.V. Thompson

When a Chinese peasant girl is chosen as a concubine to Li Hung, Chief Customs Officer for the bustling port of Canton, her parents tell her it is a great honor—but the seedy reality is far from honorable. After an incident with a lecherous British trader she is sent away and is injured during the voyage when a British man-o'-war fires at the junk in which she is traveling. Second Lieutenant Kernow Keats, a Royal Marine from the man-o'-war, boards the junk and, moved by the plight of the fragile young girl, makes arrangements to take her to a mission hospital in Hong Kong where their romance blossoms. However, a love affair between a British officer and a Chinese peasant girl is unthinkable in 1857, and when Kernow becomes inextricably involved in the vicious war being waged by the Chinese Taiping rebels it seems their love is doomed. From the author of Chase the Wind and Though the Heavens May Fall this beautifully told saga is majestically woven around the lives of two people, discovering unexpected feelings in unfamiliar territory.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Asian Literature, Romance

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 1992

About the author

aka James Munro (Not this James Munro).

E V Thompson was born in London and spent nine years in the Navy before joining Bristol police. He moved to Hong Kong, then Rhodesia and had over 200 stories published before returning to England to become a full-time award-winning writer.

Reviews

[Michelle Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I thought

It was ok,but had I known this book was more about war battles than the blue dress girls ,I would have never read it. It's main subject was war strategies and all the political rankings in the different military groups. Boring!!! The only crumb that kept me reading was the romance side story between a British officer and a Chinese blue dress girl. Found it very difficult to keep reading at times.

[Deborah Necessary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely. The story of a young Chinese girl who believes she is going to be a concubine to a local wealthy man. Instead she is a “blue dress girl”, bought by this man to serve the men he is doing business with. He would have never accepted her as a concubine because her feet are not bound. Before she is dishonored, she escapes and eventually meets and falls in love with a British officer. This is during the time when China is trying to avoid being dragged into the modern world. The perils they encounter make for a great story!

[Michael R Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than I thought

I like E V Thompson's books and tales and have a trip to the south of England coming up to prove it. I liked that the heroine and her hero got together and I enjoyed a new landscape. Please keep writing.

[Tina O'reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about life in China in the mid 1800's when the British were trying to dictate codes of trade and hoped to bring Christianity to the masses as the bloody Taiping Civil war raged.

The main characters are She-She, a young Chinese woman and Kernow Keats, a young Second Lieutenant in the British Navy. She-she had been given by her family to a chief official, supposedly to become one of his wives. Kernow arrived in China as a 17 year old and through acts of bravery and his ability to speak other languages he is soon brought to the attention of his seniors.

She-she is injured on board a ship and Kernow rescues her and other young chinese women, placing She-she and one other, Kai-Lin under the care of a British missionary family. They are instantly attracted to one another but a mixed race romance would be frowned upon from both sides so neither envisages any kind of relationship.

There is one particularly forceful lady missionary who befriends the two girls and Kernow. Kai-Lin tells of a family member who is already a Christian himself, as well as a being a Chinese soldier. This missionary sees an opportunity to encourage Kai-Lin into the faith. She also sees how Kernow reacts when being near She-she.

Kernow believes negotiation can win battles. This view is not shared by everyone and causes many issues.

Each time he sees She-she is falls more in love with her and it's only a matter of time until he hopes she feels the same.

Yes this is a romance, but the ambiance of the book is believable and if you enjoy reading about other cultures it's an attractive part of the story.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really gripping

It wasn’t terrible, but the writing was flat. The energy in scenes that should have been gripping were drained of their spark by writing descriptions of the scene that an outside observer might have written — not action as seen by the protagonists. The resignation of Kernow for example, it left the reader puzzled as to why the ambassador was so angry. There is no hint of motivation other than “You overstepped your bounds” from the ambassador. It looked frankly like the author was tired of the story and wanted it wrapped up. The reader was robbed of a wedding scene with She-she, and Esme didn’t have a thing to say about Kernow shacking up with the girl before his resignation? In fact, after all the investment in reading the book -and there’s some excellent history wrapped into the story - the reader feels betrayed that Kernow doesn’t have the decency to commit to the girl in a wedding. The ending was just to run away to Vietnam and live happily ever after. The book could have been so much more with a bit more show of what was going on in the characters heads and a view of the action from the characters instead of narration.

[Eric Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read from about 20 years ago . The author is a long-standing favourite and never fails to give my reading pleasure a boost .It tells the story of She-she , a young Chinese girl, who thinks she has been selected as a concubine to a powerful local official . Instead she is to be used to entertain visiting foreign traders to China - a blue dress girl . But not for long , as her path quickly crosses with an English soldier and a Christian missionary , both of whom have their own plans for her - as does a powerful warlord .

[Oxana Gritsko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book once again reminded me of why historical fiction is my favorite genre. Traveling to unknown places and events with the characters, learning details I know I wouldn't have learned otherwise because I haven't read history textbooks since school. Four stars only because the first half of the book was a bit dull at times, but the events of the second half left me mesmerized, especially as I found out how important those events are in Chinese history.

[Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Excellent

Truly enjoyed a view of historical China I had not seen before. Characters were well developed and the story both entertaining and informative. Unfortunately, the discrimination against mixed marriages between Westerners, military officers in particular, and Asian women continued long after the 1800s into the 2000s, negatively affecting the careers of men who ignored the tabu and fell in love and married an Asian wife.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It depicted the love story of a soldier and a poor young girl that was being sold by her father to become a blue dress girl. The story unravels much heartache and fear and has a lot of historical facts about the war and how young women were treated as merely there to bring joy and affection to the wealthy. However, thankfully this story has a good twist that saves a young girl from an ill fate that she was destined for. It was very well written and the imagery was amazing.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an informative and gripping read detailing the early wars between the Chinese peoples, the british and the French to establish trade although the nature of the trade was at times nefarious and deadly. I would like to research if any of the characters detailed in the story were real or fictional but the story was heart warming and enjoyable.

[James V. Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, War, intrigue

I was totally engrossed in this fabulous novel! The war kept friends and lovers apart but not forgotten. It was very intriguing, several well drawn characters combined to keep my interest alive. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history woven with interesting cast of characters. Colorado Jim’s wife Glenna

[Chloe J W · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is bad I usually don't abandon books like I've read worse than this this year alone but it's the last month of 2020 and I don't have to do a thing I don't want to. Read this book because it's all right but I don't care for the romance and the country hopping and I'm tired save me from 2020.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel popped up free on my kindle the other day. Since, it was about historical fiction, and China I decided to read it. Set in the third quarter of the 1800’s a military man falls in love with a Chinese Hakka girl. The book is clear on the status of Hakka’s and what their purpose was. It talks about trade, the Taipans at war with Everyone and where England and the USA stood. It also described how economic the Yangtze River is to China.

[Angelina Buacemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Historical Fiction read

I would give it a 4.5 if there was a button. The only downside to this book, like others, it would get very battle focused. I only thought about skipping a few pages in the middle, but happy that I didn’t because of the context I was able to get. A great book for those who want a history lesson as well as a romance novel.

[Cindy Kline · Rating 2 out of 5]

do you like battles?

I can’t recommend this book. I thought it was promoted as an historical romance. It was just siege after siege after siege. I could not have been interested in all of the severed heads and bloody battles. She-she and Kenrow were merely props, a supposed romance to carry us through a long and bloody book.

[Lori Oller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and you could just picture them. The story was fiction but, had a lot of historical facts. I found this book very entertaining.

[KC Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction at it's best

A great story of ancient times in the pursuit of open trade. always wars are prompted by commerce. Just enough romance to hold the story from becoming a total war related memoir.

[Trudy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. Very little was mentioned about the Blue Dress Girls and a LOT about the China conflict with Britain and themselves. It went into excruciating detail of battles and I was bored.

[Sue Greenspan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little known war

This book grabbed my attention at first-ever a war time love story . However, after several chapters the story became repetitive. Battle after battle, kidnapping after kidnapping. Way too much! I skimmed the last 25 % of the book.

[Edward Jenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read about China UK 1860s actions

A story with many twists and turns with a great insight into the differences between the British and Chinese thinking, priorities and social acceptances. It was very thought provoking, enjoy.

[Dezireen Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I care to admit. I fell into this novel to force myself to read something different, not having high interest in "kissy" novels, lol. But about halfway through, the court politics and cultural information was intriguing. I was pleased to learn it was inspired by real people.
.

[Therese Myhre · Rating 5 out of 5]

What began as a forbidden romance unfolded to be a historical account of the fight amongst European and US forces to demand trade with China. It gave me a clearer view of the history that brought Shanghai to life.. as I now live here. Truly an education!

[Carol Fifner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fastinating

Great sorry and well written . Contained a lot of historical background on China - something I was not familiar with.

[Helen Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Absolutely gripping" is a gaping overstatement. Mildly interesting yet totally unrealistic is closer to the truth.

[Bernice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5 stars

[Beth Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok bit of historical fiction

Ok bit of historical fiction with stereotypically drawn characters, both white and Chinese. I was hoping for a bit more originality.

[Louise Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Nothing exceptional.

[Dawn Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping historical romance

This book gets five stars. It completely enthralled me. Well written and extremely valuable ..going on my favorite book shelf for sure!!

[Dorothy R. Dickhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. Good to read once.

The book was not so good that I would look up other books by the same author. Good romance between the two main characters.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too long for the underwhelming ending.