The Chinese Box

by Katherine Wigmore Eyre

Novel set in 1880s California about the Spencer family, shipping magnates, and the rivalry between ambitious cousins for the same woman.

Genres: Gothic, Fiction

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Educated at the Marlborough School for Girls in California, Eyre wrote for children - Spurs for Antonia, Lottie's Valentine - for young adults - Another Spring: The Story of Lady Jane Gray - and gothic adult fiction - The Chinese Box and The Lute and the Glove.

Reviews

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book only because an older woman I play cards with said it was her all time favorite book. She said she was embarrassed to say so but true. She is quite intelligent and well read, so I find it surprising this would be her choice. She said she reads it once a year. Of course I was intrigued, so I had to read it, paid $5 to order it from Ebay as it is long out of print being a trivial book from 1959. Romance books are not my cup of tea but curiosity hit the best of me.
I did find the story a bit compelling and determined to finish it to find out how it ended. I had figured out the " who did it" midway through the book. Much of the writing is very overwrought, but it's a romance book from another era so naturally it doesn't hold up too well.

[Mermarie]

[Kiwi Carlisle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This old-style Gothic shows its age in its overwrought writing style and hackneyed situations.

[Lanka Siriwardana · Rating 5 out of 5]

terribly nice reading'

[Sweetmongoose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic 20th century gothic romance set in San Francisco. Oh, those windchimes from Chinatown!