The Fat Man's Daughter

Leah Kolbe #1

by Caroline Petit

"With a dramatic sense of time and place, Caroline Petit has woven a story as intricate as embroidered Chinese silk. She blends a tragic period in Asian history with the extraordinary journey of Leah Kolbe, a compelling character who is perfect for Petit's late-1930s Hong Kong."-Jacqueline Winspear, author of Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather Hong Kong, 1937. Orphaned at the age of 19 by the sudden death of her father, a shady Hong Kong dealer in antiquities, Leah Kolbe finds that she has also been left penniless. Her only assets are the skills her father taught connoisseurship, secretiveness and duplicity. She is approached by a Mr. Chang, who claims to have known her father and offers her a commission to go to Manchukuo (the Japanese puppet kingdom recently established in Manchuria) to smuggle out Chinese imperial treasures-and the chief eunuch. She consents, and, accompanied by her faithful amah and a white Russian woman in Chang's pay, she takes the train north. The trip is perilous, as is her return, through besieged Nanking and by sampan across the South China Sea. But it is not until she reaches the empty house on Victoria Peak back in Hong Kong that Leah realizes that she has become a woman with a country of one. Caroline Petit was born in Washington, DC, raised in Maryland and now lives in Victoria, Australia with her husband. She is a graduate of Chatham College in Pittsburgh and holds advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics and the University of Melbourne's Law School. She is a writer and producer for Write Angle Productions, and her writing has appeared in numerous publications. The Fat Man's Daughter is her first novel.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fiction, China

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jean Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exotic coming of age tale set in Hong Kong and China during a time of great turmoil.

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was suprised by how much I liked this book! At first, I couldn't remember why I'd put it on hold, but I now think it showed up as Novelist and was about the China/Japan conflict pre-WWII, which is interesting.

Most of the book focused on antique collecting and corruption within the Chinese/HongKong society of the 1930s. I loved occasionally recognizing a Hong Kong or China street name or train station. The Fat Man's Daughter lived in a world I could recognize much more than Old Filth did, which is probably one of the reasons I liked it.

However, the story was very strange. There was conspiracy everywhere, and the love story aspect was stilted, ending with the two lovers trying to kill each other over some Imperial jewels.

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange book. The author's first book and it shows. The background of 1937 Honk Kong, the japanese invasion of Manchuria, pre-WWII, is all interesting, and she sketches some interesting characters. But she violates a number of authorship rules which is somewhat disconcerting - she randomly changes the perspective at times and tells you what other characters are thinking, or what their motivations are, and you end up with a confused vision of the main character through both her own eyes and the eyes of others. Noone is particularly likable and the plot doesn't make much sense. That said, it's not boring.

[Maude · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting story of Leah Kolbe, a young woman whose father was a shady dealer in antiquities and who becomes penniless upon his death in 1937 while in Hong Kong. She is approached by the mysterious Mr. Chang who claims to be acting on behalf of the Nationalists, the Kuomingtang. He offers Leah a hefty commission if she will venture to Manchukano where she will contact the Chief Eunuch and assist with smuggling out Chinese Imperial treasures.

As usual in such stories, not everything goes to plan. I enjoyed this book but it did not really capture all of my attention and I was not very invested in Leah herself.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sound re-telling of the horror of pre World War ll Hong Kong, China and Manchuria. While the menace of the invading Japanese military of late 1937 to early 1938 is clearly spelled out, and the sense of place is very real, it is just not a very compelling story. The whole thing is driven by greed overlaid with loss at every turn.

My problem with the book is I did not care about most of the character's troubles. Yes, I did care about the nanny, but not so much anyone else defined by the author. There were so many hurt, but we don't know their stories here.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just seen the movie City of Life and Death about the Rape of Nanking, the historical setting was both familiar and haunting. This is really more historical novel than mystery, but the story is interesting and the chapters intriguing,- if a bit remote. The characters are fully formed, even if, as the reader, you never feel any real connection to them and that is a flaw. Although this was classed as a mystery and there is a thread of mystery in the plot, this is more straight historical fiction than mystery.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers have pointed out, the characters in this novel remained somewhat distant and their motivations seemed inconsistent or at least unrevealed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the setting (Hong Kong/Manchuria in the late 1930s) and it caused me to read up on Macau (which only makes a brief appearance in the book). I might read the sequel if someone gave it to me, but I probably won't rush out to buy it because I never really became invested in the life of the lead character.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I enjoyed this; it just didn't seem to 'go' anywhere and it was hard to feel anything for any of the characters.

After reading the blurb I was expecting good things, but was sorely disappointed.

Wouldn't recommend somebody to buy it, pick it up in a library (like I did) if you want.

[Monica Copeland · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters aren't believable and the plot is like a confusing episode of a half-rate detective show.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book - reminded me of Marguerite Duras. Will definitely read Petit's next book about this female character, Deep Night.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that it took over a month to finish this speaks volumes. Intriguing premise, poorly and confusingly executed.

[Gina]

Not crazy about this one. Kind of political and didn't get into the character enough.