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The Concubine's Child
In 1930s Malaysia, sixteen-year-old Yu Lan is in love with her best friend, Ming, whose father owns one of the busiest kopi shops in Petaling Street. But Ming's family don't see the apothecary's daughter as a suitable wife – for Yu Lan's father, Lim, spends more time playing mahjong than selling herbal remedies. It's not long before Lim makes a terrible decision that will change Yu Lan's life forever, selling her as a concubine to the wealthy, ageing Towkay Chan who is desperate for a male heir.
The consequences of Lim's betrayal resonate through four generations and into the present day, where Yu Lan's great-grandson, Nick, is searching for his lost family history. His wife, Sarah, begins to be very afraid of what he will find as past and present meld into one.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2018
32 people are currently reading
392 people want to read
About the author
Carol Jones
19 books34 followersThe Concubine's Child, set in 1930s Malaya, was my first novel for adults. It was inspired by twenty-five years of annual visits to Malaysia to stay with my partner's family. The Boy with Blue Trousers , set in China and Australia, is my latest historical fiction. Previously, I have written more than thirty books for younger readers.
Born in Australia, I have spent most of my life in Melbourne, working as an English and drama teacher and as an editor of children's magazines. I have been a full-time writer since 1999.
You can find out more about my work at
http://www.caroljonesauthor.com/ or follow me on instagram @caroljonesauthor
Born in Australia, I have spent most of my life in Melbourne, working as an English and drama teacher and as an editor of children's magazines. I have been a full-time writer since 1999.
You can find out more about my work at
http://www.caroljonesauthor.com/ or follow me on instagram @caroljonesauthor
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
August 23, 2018
Yu Lan’s life was set to change in a way she had never envisioned. It was the 1930s in Kuala Lumpur and sixteen-year-old Yu Lan was learning at school while thinking of a future with her best friend and the one she cared for, Ming. But when Yu Lan’s father sold her to Towkay Chan, the old but wealthy tin mine owner as his concubine, her life was no longer her own. Towkay’s first wife couldn’t bear him sons, so Yu Lan was second wife who would give him the sons he wanted, while Yu Lan’s only kindness came from the amah who took care of the family. Her sadness and desolation was complete.
2016 and Nick Chan and his wife Sarah lived in London, having been married for some time. But when Nick was sent to Kuala Lumpur for work, the distance between husband and wife was great. Only two years Nick said, but Sarah was always too busy to head to KL to visit. In the meantime, Nick had found his grandfather – estranged from his mother for forty years. When Sarah received the shocking phone call that sent her to the country which had captured her husband, she wasn’t prepared for what happened next…
The Concubine’s Child is a fascinating historical novel by Aussie author Carol Jones; I was in equal parts horrified and enthralled at what went on back in the days of concubines and pretty much, slavery! Set in two time frames over four generations, the impact of betrayal was felt right into the current day. Breathtaking, filled with superstitions and vulnerability, spirituality and secrets, The Concubine’s Child is well worth the read. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.
2016 and Nick Chan and his wife Sarah lived in London, having been married for some time. But when Nick was sent to Kuala Lumpur for work, the distance between husband and wife was great. Only two years Nick said, but Sarah was always too busy to head to KL to visit. In the meantime, Nick had found his grandfather – estranged from his mother for forty years. When Sarah received the shocking phone call that sent her to the country which had captured her husband, she wasn’t prepared for what happened next…
The Concubine’s Child is a fascinating historical novel by Aussie author Carol Jones; I was in equal parts horrified and enthralled at what went on back in the days of concubines and pretty much, slavery! Set in two time frames over four generations, the impact of betrayal was felt right into the current day. Breathtaking, filled with superstitions and vulnerability, spirituality and secrets, The Concubine’s Child is well worth the read. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.
April 28, 2018
Somber, evocative, and poignant!
The Concubine's Child is a compelling tale that sweeps you away to a country where money is power, freedom is often beyond reach, and the people are governed by the ancient superstitions, traditions, and spirituality that have been passed down and ingrained from generation to generation.
The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are multi-layered, sympathetic, and vulnerable. The plot is well crafted and uses a back-and-forth, past/present style to unravel all the motivations, relationships, and personalities within it. And the story set in Malaysia during both the 1930s, as well as present day, is full of familial drama, heartbreak, lost love, jealousy, obsession, discord, mystique, culture, courage, grief, self-discovery, hope, solace, and survival.
Overall, I would have to say that The Concubine's Child is a heart-wrenching tale that does an exceptional job of highlighting the indomitable spirit of women and their ability to face, endure, survive, and conquer any challenges, struggles, or tragedies that come their way.
Thank you to Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
All my reviews can be found on my blog at https://whatsbetterthanbooks.com
The Concubine's Child is a compelling tale that sweeps you away to a country where money is power, freedom is often beyond reach, and the people are governed by the ancient superstitions, traditions, and spirituality that have been passed down and ingrained from generation to generation.
The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are multi-layered, sympathetic, and vulnerable. The plot is well crafted and uses a back-and-forth, past/present style to unravel all the motivations, relationships, and personalities within it. And the story set in Malaysia during both the 1930s, as well as present day, is full of familial drama, heartbreak, lost love, jealousy, obsession, discord, mystique, culture, courage, grief, self-discovery, hope, solace, and survival.
Overall, I would have to say that The Concubine's Child is a heart-wrenching tale that does an exceptional job of highlighting the indomitable spirit of women and their ability to face, endure, survive, and conquer any challenges, struggles, or tragedies that come their way.
Thank you to Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
All my reviews can be found on my blog at https://whatsbetterthanbooks.com
August 11, 2018
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
The Concubine’s Child is a seducing historical fiction novel. The front cover tagline promises an unforgettable story of lost love, betrayal and freedom. I promise you get all this and much more from The Concubine’s Child . This breathtaking novel transports the reader to 1930’s Malaya with a sense of ease. A generational focussed novel, The Concubine’s Child is a rich tapestry of family secrets that will enthrall readers far and wide.
Sometimes a book speaks to you even before you have the chance to read the first paragraph. This was the case with my experience of reading The Concubine’s Child. I had seen images of this novel floating around on my social media sites and I have been closely following the talented author of The Concubine’s Child. I knew I just had to get hold of this novel and read it for myself. Overall, I was taken aback by the rich narrative, vivid setting and haunting characters. Dual narratives are my favourite format of storytelling and The Concubine’s Child is a solid example of a dual narrative that works so well.
The Concubine’s Child is a magnificent testament to Malaya in times past, but also present day Malaya. Jones structures her novel around the sad story of a teenager, Yu Lan, who is sold by her family to a wealthy and higher class man, as a concubine. We discover that Yu Lan’s charge is desperate for an heir, so Yu Lan is both responsible for satisfying him sexually and she is also tasked with the duty of providing an heir. This is a story tinged with great sorrow as Jones outlines the pressure placed on young girls like Yu Lan, who were expected to leave their families, dreams and hopes of love for the sake of another. What haunted me most about this aspect of the story was the lack of choice for women, especially young women and adolescents in this not too distant past. It also highlights the class issues and the desperation, as well as duty faced by families of this region.
The secondary players that come into The Concubine’s Child add plenty of depth to the unfolding tale. From Yu Lan’s family, the Chan’s (the family who have purchased Yu Lan), the servants of the Chan household and of course the present day pivotal characters. Each and every one of these players has a commanding presence in this spellbinding tale. Jones does a fine job of outlining all her characters and their respective personalities. I have nothing but praise for Jones in this area, along with the rest of her novel.
It is often problematic to balance two different time frame narratives fairly, but Carol Jones achieves this successfully. I was enamoured by both the present and past storylines of this novel. I also firmly believe Nick and Sarah’s journey in the present is imperative to unlocking the secrets of the 1930’s based narrative. The modern day narrative offers a full bodied exploration into a marriage under strain, disconnection, the search family roots and identity. I loved the inclusion of the old and spirited house, once home to Yu Lan, but now in the care of her great grandson Nick. There were also some finer details connecting the past and present which I picked up on. I appreciated this delicate attention to detail.
Generally I am not a fan of supernatural narratives, superstitions and magical realism, but I make an exception for this novel, it worked so well within the pages of The Concubine’s Child. I will readily admit that I was utterly intrigued by these aspects. It is hard not to get caught up in Carol Jones’ representation of spirits, prayers to the gods, herbal medicines, offerings and the ancient symbols that pepper the pages of The Concubine’s Child. These all add an extra flourish to the unfolding tale.
Carol Jones is a well versed author in Malaya’s history, culture, customs, landscape, food and its people. This shines bright through all aspects of her novel and I relished these segments of The Concubine’s Child. Jones also manages to balance old Malaya with present day Malaya. I am only a little versed in this area after visiting last year, but I found that The Concubine’s Child made me hungry for more information. Thankfully, the author’s dedication to her research, which has been painstakingly drawn from a variety of sources, adds much value to this novel. The author also injects a sense of first hand understanding, thanks to her experiences of her own family history. All these factors work to ensure that The Concubine’s Child comes across as deeply authentic.
Some may say that this is story tinged with melancholy, oppression, unforgiving tradition and cruelty. I believe that this is offset by moments of hope, forgiveness and a positive look to the future in the form of a family legacy as the book closes. The Concubine’s Child is a superbly written piece of historical fiction that fuses together the past and the present, in one thought provoking tale. The Concubine’s Child has confirmed its place as one of my favourite historical based works this year. My genuine thanks go out to the author, Carol Jones, for bringing this immersive, high quality, truthful and absolutely riveting story to light. The Concubine’s Child is one story that I know will besiege me, long after saying goodbye to this novel. Highly recommended.
*I wish to thank the author, Carol Jones for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The Concubine’s Child, is book #92 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge
The Concubine’s Child is a seducing historical fiction novel. The front cover tagline promises an unforgettable story of lost love, betrayal and freedom. I promise you get all this and much more from The Concubine’s Child . This breathtaking novel transports the reader to 1930’s Malaya with a sense of ease. A generational focussed novel, The Concubine’s Child is a rich tapestry of family secrets that will enthrall readers far and wide.
Sometimes a book speaks to you even before you have the chance to read the first paragraph. This was the case with my experience of reading The Concubine’s Child. I had seen images of this novel floating around on my social media sites and I have been closely following the talented author of The Concubine’s Child. I knew I just had to get hold of this novel and read it for myself. Overall, I was taken aback by the rich narrative, vivid setting and haunting characters. Dual narratives are my favourite format of storytelling and The Concubine’s Child is a solid example of a dual narrative that works so well.
The Concubine’s Child is a magnificent testament to Malaya in times past, but also present day Malaya. Jones structures her novel around the sad story of a teenager, Yu Lan, who is sold by her family to a wealthy and higher class man, as a concubine. We discover that Yu Lan’s charge is desperate for an heir, so Yu Lan is both responsible for satisfying him sexually and she is also tasked with the duty of providing an heir. This is a story tinged with great sorrow as Jones outlines the pressure placed on young girls like Yu Lan, who were expected to leave their families, dreams and hopes of love for the sake of another. What haunted me most about this aspect of the story was the lack of choice for women, especially young women and adolescents in this not too distant past. It also highlights the class issues and the desperation, as well as duty faced by families of this region.
The secondary players that come into The Concubine’s Child add plenty of depth to the unfolding tale. From Yu Lan’s family, the Chan’s (the family who have purchased Yu Lan), the servants of the Chan household and of course the present day pivotal characters. Each and every one of these players has a commanding presence in this spellbinding tale. Jones does a fine job of outlining all her characters and their respective personalities. I have nothing but praise for Jones in this area, along with the rest of her novel.
It is often problematic to balance two different time frame narratives fairly, but Carol Jones achieves this successfully. I was enamoured by both the present and past storylines of this novel. I also firmly believe Nick and Sarah’s journey in the present is imperative to unlocking the secrets of the 1930’s based narrative. The modern day narrative offers a full bodied exploration into a marriage under strain, disconnection, the search family roots and identity. I loved the inclusion of the old and spirited house, once home to Yu Lan, but now in the care of her great grandson Nick. There were also some finer details connecting the past and present which I picked up on. I appreciated this delicate attention to detail.
Generally I am not a fan of supernatural narratives, superstitions and magical realism, but I make an exception for this novel, it worked so well within the pages of The Concubine’s Child. I will readily admit that I was utterly intrigued by these aspects. It is hard not to get caught up in Carol Jones’ representation of spirits, prayers to the gods, herbal medicines, offerings and the ancient symbols that pepper the pages of The Concubine’s Child. These all add an extra flourish to the unfolding tale.
Carol Jones is a well versed author in Malaya’s history, culture, customs, landscape, food and its people. This shines bright through all aspects of her novel and I relished these segments of The Concubine’s Child. Jones also manages to balance old Malaya with present day Malaya. I am only a little versed in this area after visiting last year, but I found that The Concubine’s Child made me hungry for more information. Thankfully, the author’s dedication to her research, which has been painstakingly drawn from a variety of sources, adds much value to this novel. The author also injects a sense of first hand understanding, thanks to her experiences of her own family history. All these factors work to ensure that The Concubine’s Child comes across as deeply authentic.
Some may say that this is story tinged with melancholy, oppression, unforgiving tradition and cruelty. I believe that this is offset by moments of hope, forgiveness and a positive look to the future in the form of a family legacy as the book closes. The Concubine’s Child is a superbly written piece of historical fiction that fuses together the past and the present, in one thought provoking tale. The Concubine’s Child has confirmed its place as one of my favourite historical based works this year. My genuine thanks go out to the author, Carol Jones, for bringing this immersive, high quality, truthful and absolutely riveting story to light. The Concubine’s Child is one story that I know will besiege me, long after saying goodbye to this novel. Highly recommended.
*I wish to thank the author, Carol Jones for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The Concubine’s Child, is book #92 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge
April 28, 2018
Just because it's finally on the shelves!
June 3, 2018
Read more reviews like this, plus fascinating author interviews, exclusive guest posts and book extracts on my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/
When Yu Lan’s father, an apothecary, contracts her to be the ‘second wife’ or concubine of rich mine owner, Chan Boon Siew, she has no idea what lies in store for her. As well as the unwelcome attentions of her new husband eager to beget the sons that his first wife has been unable to provide, Yu Lan has to cope with life as a virtual prisoner in their home and the jealousy of Chan’s first wife. It turns out that the role of ‘second wife’ amounts to that of a second-class citizen with none of the ‘rights’ or position of respect granted to a first wife. ‘But as a concubine, a chieh, her husband would decide when and if she might visit her birth family. As a concubine, she would receive no dowry of gold and jewellery, own no property. She wouldn’t return to her parents’ home on the third day after the wedding with gifts of roast pig and other delicacies….There would be no red posters outside the apothecary’s shop announcing to all that her father was receiving a gifted son-in-law into their family.’
Furthermore, as events unfold, Yu Lan is forced to see Mrs. Chan usurp the role of mother to the son to whom she gives birth. Initially cowed into submission, Yu Lan eventually finds help and friendship in the person of Ho Jie, amah to the Chan household and a so-called ‘self-combed woman’. In due course, Yu Lan finds the courage to fight back in a way that will have repercussions down the years.
I’ve previously confessed that I sometimes have problems with books that have a dual timeline structure; often I find the story set in the past much more compelling than that set in the present day. I’m pleased to report that, in the case of The Concubine’s Child, although I did find Yu Lan’s story the most absorbing, the modern day story also held my attention – not least because of the curved ball the author delivers part way through the book.
The modern day story, as well as being a search for answers about Nick’s family history, is also an insightful portrait of a marriage under strain. It’s a marriage where the intense flames of first love have died down, not helped by Nick’s decision to accept an academic posting in Kuala Lumpur that will mean him and his wife, Sarah, spending months apart. Eventually, Sarah will face heartbreaking choices about their life together.
Although set in Kuala Lumpur, the book is full of fascinating detail about Chinese customs, festivals, clothing and food. And there are some evocative descriptions of the landscape and wildlife of Malaysia. ‘A chorus of cicadas greeted them as they stepped onto a path that wound through thick forest. It followed the course of a river that cascaded over boulders in a gradual descent down the mountain. Small lizards poked their heads out from under decaying leaves that carpeted the jungle floor, while the occasional centipede scurried underfoot. Above them the trees echoed with the chatter of monkeys and unfamiliar birdcalls.’
The Concubine’s Child is a powerful story of love, loss and of history repeating itself. Oh, and that revenge is a dish best served cold…and perhaps stinky?
** Visit my blog (see above) for a link to a fascinating guest post by Carol about her research for the book. **
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.
When Yu Lan’s father, an apothecary, contracts her to be the ‘second wife’ or concubine of rich mine owner, Chan Boon Siew, she has no idea what lies in store for her. As well as the unwelcome attentions of her new husband eager to beget the sons that his first wife has been unable to provide, Yu Lan has to cope with life as a virtual prisoner in their home and the jealousy of Chan’s first wife. It turns out that the role of ‘second wife’ amounts to that of a second-class citizen with none of the ‘rights’ or position of respect granted to a first wife. ‘But as a concubine, a chieh, her husband would decide when and if she might visit her birth family. As a concubine, she would receive no dowry of gold and jewellery, own no property. She wouldn’t return to her parents’ home on the third day after the wedding with gifts of roast pig and other delicacies….There would be no red posters outside the apothecary’s shop announcing to all that her father was receiving a gifted son-in-law into their family.’
Furthermore, as events unfold, Yu Lan is forced to see Mrs. Chan usurp the role of mother to the son to whom she gives birth. Initially cowed into submission, Yu Lan eventually finds help and friendship in the person of Ho Jie, amah to the Chan household and a so-called ‘self-combed woman’. In due course, Yu Lan finds the courage to fight back in a way that will have repercussions down the years.
I’ve previously confessed that I sometimes have problems with books that have a dual timeline structure; often I find the story set in the past much more compelling than that set in the present day. I’m pleased to report that, in the case of The Concubine’s Child, although I did find Yu Lan’s story the most absorbing, the modern day story also held my attention – not least because of the curved ball the author delivers part way through the book.
The modern day story, as well as being a search for answers about Nick’s family history, is also an insightful portrait of a marriage under strain. It’s a marriage where the intense flames of first love have died down, not helped by Nick’s decision to accept an academic posting in Kuala Lumpur that will mean him and his wife, Sarah, spending months apart. Eventually, Sarah will face heartbreaking choices about their life together.
Although set in Kuala Lumpur, the book is full of fascinating detail about Chinese customs, festivals, clothing and food. And there are some evocative descriptions of the landscape and wildlife of Malaysia. ‘A chorus of cicadas greeted them as they stepped onto a path that wound through thick forest. It followed the course of a river that cascaded over boulders in a gradual descent down the mountain. Small lizards poked their heads out from under decaying leaves that carpeted the jungle floor, while the occasional centipede scurried underfoot. Above them the trees echoed with the chatter of monkeys and unfamiliar birdcalls.’
The Concubine’s Child is a powerful story of love, loss and of history repeating itself. Oh, and that revenge is a dish best served cold…and perhaps stinky?
** Visit my blog (see above) for a link to a fascinating guest post by Carol about her research for the book. **
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.
October 20, 2018
The reader is taken on a journey, from 1930 old Malaysia, a melting pot of different cultures to modern day 2015, England. In 1930 Yu Lan who could be best described as a wilful girl but then most teenagers are self absorbed and some easily distracted and forming romantic notions for which sometimes cannot ever be fulfilled. Yu Lan’s father does have a reasonable apothecary business, however he is a gambler and when presented with the opportunity to make a financial hit by selling off his daughter as a concubine for Towkay Chan a man without a male child heir, his wife unable to conceive he takes it. Madam Chan is a self absorbed woman who becomes jealous of Yu Lan, her husband forming a strong sexual attraction to the teenager. He also makes allowances for the teenagers wilful and moody behaviour which further adds to the malevolence directed towards her. Yu Lan after giving birth to a son realises that she is now in a dangerous position and faced with uncertain future she embarks on a plan to resolve her plight. The author moves the story to Hampshire, Nick and wife Sarah 2015, this is a big leap in time and gets a little bogged down in being able to connect the dots. This is a whole new story and one that would have served better as a sequel. Sarah has her own separate issues dealing with her very needy mother and her work which seems to dominate both their lives, she controls the relationship. Nick has a calming personality but is puzzled why his family’s history is secreted from him. An opportunity allows him to travel to Kuala Lumpur where he discovers the truth about his heritage but then he, through a twist of fate repeats history, leaving Sarah with a difficult and emotional quandary to deal with. Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus, publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
July 11, 2018
The Concubine’s Child is quite a magnificent story, I doubt I’ll be able to adequately convey how much I appreciated it. It’s a deeply immersive novel, one that takes you by the hand and leads you down into the depths of a culture so ancient, yet still so revered in the modern day, something I found both startling and comforting in equal measure.
This is a desperately sad story of a terribly unjust social system deeply entrenched in tradition that not only places women at the mercy of men, but also at the mercy of other women who are deemed more powerful than they are. The oppression was stifling and brutally unforgiving. The superstition was at times overwhelming, it put me in mind of 16th and 17th century Ireland with their ancient faerie superstitions. It must have been exhausting keeping up with all of the veneration and sacrifice needing to be made to the ancestors and the Gods. Constantly fearing retribution from the afterlife and consequently modifying your behaviour to fit in with subjective notions of right and wrong. It seems ridiculous to the modern world, and yet, there are many traditions and beliefs that still hold fast. Carol Jones brought this aspect of Malayan culture to life with vivid representation, it was truly fascinating, although, I kept wondering what actually happens to all of the food loaded up as offerings to the ancestors. Did it just sit there and rot? Maybe the monkeys were well versed at sneaking in and taking the goods! It’s one of those practical aspects of the mystical that tends to get in the way of me truly believing in anything like this.
When I think of the many women throughout time who have been subjected to the traditional social structures and cultural practices of ancient societies I tend to feel rather melancholic, and this novel is indeed filled with melancholy, in both eras within the story. However, it is by no means a depressingly sad read of a hopeless situation. Far from it. Carol Jones demonstrates exceptional skill as a writer throughout this novel, balancing authenticity with whimsy, and while the events, within both eras, imprint your heart with the sheer tragedy, this is one of those stories where you forgive the brutality of the author on account of the blinding beauty of the story as a whole. The Concubine’s Child is simply brilliant. The interconnectedness of both eras, the immersion into another culture, the authenticity of the characters, the vivid setting and atmospheric conjuring of the ancient merging with the modern; I was totally captivated by this novel, dread at the events unfolding not withstanding.
Perusal of the author notes at the end of the novel show just how much truth exists at the foundation of this story. Carol Jones is quite familiar with her setting and has used primary evidence to craft her historical sections; none of this surprised me given the quality of the story preceding these notes. While fundamentally this is a tale of revenge, it’s also a story about forgiveness and the ability to finally let go of the ties from the past. The Concubine’s Child is an outstanding novel of historical fiction that will satisfy a wide range of readers. I highly recommend it.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of The Concubine’s Child for review.
This is a desperately sad story of a terribly unjust social system deeply entrenched in tradition that not only places women at the mercy of men, but also at the mercy of other women who are deemed more powerful than they are. The oppression was stifling and brutally unforgiving. The superstition was at times overwhelming, it put me in mind of 16th and 17th century Ireland with their ancient faerie superstitions. It must have been exhausting keeping up with all of the veneration and sacrifice needing to be made to the ancestors and the Gods. Constantly fearing retribution from the afterlife and consequently modifying your behaviour to fit in with subjective notions of right and wrong. It seems ridiculous to the modern world, and yet, there are many traditions and beliefs that still hold fast. Carol Jones brought this aspect of Malayan culture to life with vivid representation, it was truly fascinating, although, I kept wondering what actually happens to all of the food loaded up as offerings to the ancestors. Did it just sit there and rot? Maybe the monkeys were well versed at sneaking in and taking the goods! It’s one of those practical aspects of the mystical that tends to get in the way of me truly believing in anything like this.
When I think of the many women throughout time who have been subjected to the traditional social structures and cultural practices of ancient societies I tend to feel rather melancholic, and this novel is indeed filled with melancholy, in both eras within the story. However, it is by no means a depressingly sad read of a hopeless situation. Far from it. Carol Jones demonstrates exceptional skill as a writer throughout this novel, balancing authenticity with whimsy, and while the events, within both eras, imprint your heart with the sheer tragedy, this is one of those stories where you forgive the brutality of the author on account of the blinding beauty of the story as a whole. The Concubine’s Child is simply brilliant. The interconnectedness of both eras, the immersion into another culture, the authenticity of the characters, the vivid setting and atmospheric conjuring of the ancient merging with the modern; I was totally captivated by this novel, dread at the events unfolding not withstanding.
Perusal of the author notes at the end of the novel show just how much truth exists at the foundation of this story. Carol Jones is quite familiar with her setting and has used primary evidence to craft her historical sections; none of this surprised me given the quality of the story preceding these notes. While fundamentally this is a tale of revenge, it’s also a story about forgiveness and the ability to finally let go of the ties from the past. The Concubine’s Child is an outstanding novel of historical fiction that will satisfy a wide range of readers. I highly recommend it.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of The Concubine’s Child for review.
April 21, 2018
The Concubine’s Child by Carol Jones
As I began to read this book I was afraid it might not hold my interest but at 3am in the morning, after being unable to stop reading, I decided that indeed it had caught and kept my interest after all. That said, it was a sad book that left me thinking that all of the women in the book seemed to have more sorrow than happiness in their lives.
In 1930 Yu Lan is sold at sixteen to become a concubine thus dashing all her hopes and dreams of a happy life. The author then takes us to 2016 where we meet her great grandson Nick who seems to be longing for roots and the child his wife Sarah is not ready for. The story flips between the past and present weaving the life stories of the characters together seamlessly while painting their backgrounds and personalities with a vibrant if sometimes dark palette.
All of my senses were engaged as well as my mind as I read of what is now Malaysia – past and present. I thought of the difficulties faced by each female character in the book and how she chose to deal with what she was facing. I thought of the relationships between the women and those that were part of their lives and then thought of the choices they made, why they made them and whether or not they would have been my own if I found myself in their situation.
This was a multi-layered, thought provoking, rather depressing look at life with only a bit of hope given that the final characters in 2018 and beyond might lay their ghosts to rest and find their way to a happier future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria-Head of Zeus for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
As I began to read this book I was afraid it might not hold my interest but at 3am in the morning, after being unable to stop reading, I decided that indeed it had caught and kept my interest after all. That said, it was a sad book that left me thinking that all of the women in the book seemed to have more sorrow than happiness in their lives.
In 1930 Yu Lan is sold at sixteen to become a concubine thus dashing all her hopes and dreams of a happy life. The author then takes us to 2016 where we meet her great grandson Nick who seems to be longing for roots and the child his wife Sarah is not ready for. The story flips between the past and present weaving the life stories of the characters together seamlessly while painting their backgrounds and personalities with a vibrant if sometimes dark palette.
All of my senses were engaged as well as my mind as I read of what is now Malaysia – past and present. I thought of the difficulties faced by each female character in the book and how she chose to deal with what she was facing. I thought of the relationships between the women and those that were part of their lives and then thought of the choices they made, why they made them and whether or not they would have been my own if I found myself in their situation.
This was a multi-layered, thought provoking, rather depressing look at life with only a bit of hope given that the final characters in 2018 and beyond might lay their ghosts to rest and find their way to a happier future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria-Head of Zeus for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
April 22, 2018
Many thanks to Carol Jones, Netgalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Concubine’s Child is a superb blend of historical fiction, life circumstances, the choices we make, and the aftermath in the wake of those choices. There is suspense and a bit of folklore to mix it up. The story is told in alternating timelines between 1930 and present day.
The setting is Malaysia 1930. Daughters from less fortunate families are often sold to more affluent families and used as laborers, prostitutes, or in this case as a second wife to bear children.
At the tender age of 16 years, Yu Lan is sold for the purpose of becoming a second wife to a much older man (in his 50’s) and bears him an heir to carry on the family name. She endures many cruelties by the first wife who becomes jealous and threatened by Yu Lan’s relationship with their husband as his fondness grows toward the younger girl.
Yu Lan must escape and take control of her body and her life. She attends her first opera and the storyline changes her destiny, a seed is planted. She sees a way out with a plan to take revenge.
Get your copy to find out how it all ends. I was completely hooked and I must admit I didn’t see some of the turns coming. Masterful story telling at its finest.
The Concubine’s Child is a superb blend of historical fiction, life circumstances, the choices we make, and the aftermath in the wake of those choices. There is suspense and a bit of folklore to mix it up. The story is told in alternating timelines between 1930 and present day.
The setting is Malaysia 1930. Daughters from less fortunate families are often sold to more affluent families and used as laborers, prostitutes, or in this case as a second wife to bear children.
At the tender age of 16 years, Yu Lan is sold for the purpose of becoming a second wife to a much older man (in his 50’s) and bears him an heir to carry on the family name. She endures many cruelties by the first wife who becomes jealous and threatened by Yu Lan’s relationship with their husband as his fondness grows toward the younger girl.
Yu Lan must escape and take control of her body and her life. She attends her first opera and the storyline changes her destiny, a seed is planted. She sees a way out with a plan to take revenge.
Get your copy to find out how it all ends. I was completely hooked and I must admit I didn’t see some of the turns coming. Masterful story telling at its finest.
April 25, 2018
In 1930s Malaysia, Yu Lan is sold to a concubine. She is illiterate and helps in her father's apothecary shop.
In 2016, we are introduced to her grandson and his life, The book is very visual and richly descriptive. The characters are very well fleshed-out.
I was intrigued by the people, scenery and customs in this book and it is obvious that a lot of effort has gone into background research.
The story is both sad and humbling.
Thanks to Carol Jones and Aria, an Imprint of Head of Zeus, for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.
In 2016, we are introduced to her grandson and his life, The book is very visual and richly descriptive. The characters are very well fleshed-out.
I was intrigued by the people, scenery and customs in this book and it is obvious that a lot of effort has gone into background research.
The story is both sad and humbling.
Thanks to Carol Jones and Aria, an Imprint of Head of Zeus, for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.
April 10, 2018
Review to come!
May 31, 2018
Highly recommended if you're a fan of oriental tales and ancient Malaysia. Historic and truth nicely hid in web of lies, The Concubine's Child is an interesting read!
November 12, 2018
‘Better to be a rich man’s concubine than a poor man’s wife.’
In Kuala Lumpur in the 1930s, sixteen-year-old Yu Lan is the daughter of an apothecary. She dreams of marrying her friend Ming, whose father owns one of the busiest coffee shops in Petaling Street. She believes that Ming is waiting for the right time to ask his father. But Ming’s family do not see Yu Lan as a suitable wife for their son: her father Lim is a gambler. Lim decides to sell Yu Ming as a second wife, a concubine, to the ageing Towkay Chan. Towkay Chan is the wealthy owner of a tin mine whose wife has been unable to bear him an heir. Madam Chan becomes jealous of Yu Lan and makes her life even more difficult. After her son is born, Yu Lan tries to escape.
‘You must be fluid like water, for water defeats the strongest stone in time.’
Four generations later, Nick Chan in Hampshire, UK, is searching for his family history. An opportunity for Nick to work in Kuala Lumpur presents, and he takes it. Nick’s wife Sarah doesn’t accompany him, staying behind because of her own work and other commitments. And then, two years later, fate emerges to insert yet another twist.
Yes, Gentle Reader, there are links between past and present. Some of those links will seem obvious, some may seem improbable. But who can be sure, really sure, of how lives are shaped, of the influences of ancestors, of how destiny is decreed?
I was totally caught up in the story set in Kuala Lumpur, but for me the story lost some momentum with the shift to the UK. Even so, I found that I couldn’t put the novel down. I wanted to know how it would end. Yu Lan might only appear in part of the novel, but she casts a long shadow across the rest of it.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In Kuala Lumpur in the 1930s, sixteen-year-old Yu Lan is the daughter of an apothecary. She dreams of marrying her friend Ming, whose father owns one of the busiest coffee shops in Petaling Street. She believes that Ming is waiting for the right time to ask his father. But Ming’s family do not see Yu Lan as a suitable wife for their son: her father Lim is a gambler. Lim decides to sell Yu Ming as a second wife, a concubine, to the ageing Towkay Chan. Towkay Chan is the wealthy owner of a tin mine whose wife has been unable to bear him an heir. Madam Chan becomes jealous of Yu Lan and makes her life even more difficult. After her son is born, Yu Lan tries to escape.
‘You must be fluid like water, for water defeats the strongest stone in time.’
Four generations later, Nick Chan in Hampshire, UK, is searching for his family history. An opportunity for Nick to work in Kuala Lumpur presents, and he takes it. Nick’s wife Sarah doesn’t accompany him, staying behind because of her own work and other commitments. And then, two years later, fate emerges to insert yet another twist.
Yes, Gentle Reader, there are links between past and present. Some of those links will seem obvious, some may seem improbable. But who can be sure, really sure, of how lives are shaped, of the influences of ancestors, of how destiny is decreed?
I was totally caught up in the story set in Kuala Lumpur, but for me the story lost some momentum with the shift to the UK. Even so, I found that I couldn’t put the novel down. I wanted to know how it would end. Yu Lan might only appear in part of the novel, but she casts a long shadow across the rest of it.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 23, 2018
Unputdownable.
I always struggle to get into the feel of a new book or author, but I can honestly say that by the end of the second chapter of The Concubine's Child, I was hooked.
I'm a sucker for happy endings, so without giving any spoilers, I'll just say there were a few parts that led to long rants to my enduring husband about life and love 😂. But then, if every book read exactly the way I wanted, I'd end up bored. So in a way, I quite liked being taken on this crazy ride where I was shocked and outraged for characters I found easy to love. That said, I felt like the final message was about peace and moving forward, which was a soothing balm after all the dramas that unfolded throughout.
It has a decidedly, "Memoirs of a Geisha" feel to it, but with a fresh and original voice which I think will engage many.
I also love when a writer is capable of immersing me completely in a culture I previously knew little about, and Jones does this effortlessly in her chapters...I can only imagine the insane amounts of research that went into the novel to achieve this feeling.
I could complain the ending felt a bit rushed, but I won't, because I wouldn't have wanted to seen it dragged out and mostly, I just think when the ending of a book feels rushed, it is perhaps because we are not ready to say goodbye to the characters we have met in its pages.
I always struggle to get into the feel of a new book or author, but I can honestly say that by the end of the second chapter of The Concubine's Child, I was hooked.
I'm a sucker for happy endings, so without giving any spoilers, I'll just say there were a few parts that led to long rants to my enduring husband about life and love 😂. But then, if every book read exactly the way I wanted, I'd end up bored. So in a way, I quite liked being taken on this crazy ride where I was shocked and outraged for characters I found easy to love. That said, I felt like the final message was about peace and moving forward, which was a soothing balm after all the dramas that unfolded throughout.
It has a decidedly, "Memoirs of a Geisha" feel to it, but with a fresh and original voice which I think will engage many.
I also love when a writer is capable of immersing me completely in a culture I previously knew little about, and Jones does this effortlessly in her chapters...I can only imagine the insane amounts of research that went into the novel to achieve this feeling.
I could complain the ending felt a bit rushed, but I won't, because I wouldn't have wanted to seen it dragged out and mostly, I just think when the ending of a book feels rushed, it is perhaps because we are not ready to say goodbye to the characters we have met in its pages.
March 3, 2019
It’s a continual irritation to me that historical fiction seems to be really pushing this dual timeline narrative nonsense. By that, I mean adding a modern-day narrative, usually a weak-tea story about a descendant of the other time, or someone discovering something left behind by that other person. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed to find there was an actual point to the second story, that consequences from the first might be rippling through the ages.
I’m slightly uncomfortable with the conclusion of the modern storyline in which the female protagonist quits her job, which, up till that point, seemed to be a big part of her identity and happiness. I’m very uncomfortable with the continuing insinuation that women need to work less, otherwise their husbands will run off across the globe and get hurt. Despite the theme of recognizing and making space for a woman’s pain in the first narrative, the second seems to be about reversing that and encouraging women to put men’s needs ahead of their own. It’s subtle, and not overtly stated, but it’s present.
The story of the past, however, is particularly strong, and the author doesn’t shy away from the trauma endured by a teenage girl at the hands of her father, and the husband and wife who buy her to serve as a vessel to give them sons. Yu Lin fights back as best she can, taking revenge that echoes through the ages - with the help of the amah, Ho Jie.
If you’re used to miracles in literature, stay away. These characters have to endure reality in all its harshness. Nevertheless, they do manage to find peace where they can.
I’m slightly uncomfortable with the conclusion of the modern storyline in which the female protagonist quits her job, which, up till that point, seemed to be a big part of her identity and happiness. I’m very uncomfortable with the continuing insinuation that women need to work less, otherwise their husbands will run off across the globe and get hurt. Despite the theme of recognizing and making space for a woman’s pain in the first narrative, the second seems to be about reversing that and encouraging women to put men’s needs ahead of their own. It’s subtle, and not overtly stated, but it’s present.
The story of the past, however, is particularly strong, and the author doesn’t shy away from the trauma endured by a teenage girl at the hands of her father, and the husband and wife who buy her to serve as a vessel to give them sons. Yu Lin fights back as best she can, taking revenge that echoes through the ages - with the help of the amah, Ho Jie.
If you’re used to miracles in literature, stay away. These characters have to endure reality in all its harshness. Nevertheless, they do manage to find peace where they can.
June 15, 2019
My heart is aching after having read about the unimaginable pain, experienced by a concubine, who was once a happy and free young girl. This novel gave great insight into a time and place I had no knowledge of - 1930s Malaya. The novel was hauntingly powerful. I had to give myself time to process the sadness and experiences of this family prior to writing my review.
This novel follows Yu Lan, a young sixteen year old girl whose world is turned upside down as she is taken from her home, her love and her family, to become a part of a stranger's family. The decision is made by her father, removing her from everything she has every known and depriving her of freedom, love and a wedding day. She becomes a concubine. Yu Lan was brought into the Chan family to produce a male heir for Towkay Chan. The sorrow and loss Yu Lan experiences are raw and heartbreaking. There were moments when I felt little relief from the melancholy feelings of the characters.
As a historical fiction novel, it was extremely well researched and allowed me to understand the horrors of this place and time. The dual time line allowed me to understand the modern day and historical culture of Malyasia. The story realistically paints scenes of the places, appealing to the senses. ‘Already the scent of home reached her nose, a mixture of barks, berries, roots, fungi .... ’ When travelling I have noticed the different scents of different places, just as home has it's comforting scents. Carol Jones describes the feeling of coming back home in a way I will never forget. Home is truly where the heart remains.
‘You couldn't fight life's storms. You couldn't fight fate. You could only wait.’ The life lessons discovered in the novel are significant not only in the characters' world, also on a greater scale in relation to historical significance. This is emphasised in the modern day story of Ya Lan's great grandson and his wife. It is possible to see the damaging effects that continued for years. Revenge plays a huge part in this novel along with the spiritual world. The characters will all learn from the ghosts of their past.
I would highly recommend this book due its historical significance, beautiful cultural descriptions and heartbreaking experiences felt by Yu Lan. What a wonderful story that will stay with me for a long time.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novel follows Yu Lan, a young sixteen year old girl whose world is turned upside down as she is taken from her home, her love and her family, to become a part of a stranger's family. The decision is made by her father, removing her from everything she has every known and depriving her of freedom, love and a wedding day. She becomes a concubine. Yu Lan was brought into the Chan family to produce a male heir for Towkay Chan. The sorrow and loss Yu Lan experiences are raw and heartbreaking. There were moments when I felt little relief from the melancholy feelings of the characters.
As a historical fiction novel, it was extremely well researched and allowed me to understand the horrors of this place and time. The dual time line allowed me to understand the modern day and historical culture of Malyasia. The story realistically paints scenes of the places, appealing to the senses. ‘Already the scent of home reached her nose, a mixture of barks, berries, roots, fungi .... ’ When travelling I have noticed the different scents of different places, just as home has it's comforting scents. Carol Jones describes the feeling of coming back home in a way I will never forget. Home is truly where the heart remains.
‘You couldn't fight life's storms. You couldn't fight fate. You could only wait.’ The life lessons discovered in the novel are significant not only in the characters' world, also on a greater scale in relation to historical significance. This is emphasised in the modern day story of Ya Lan's great grandson and his wife. It is possible to see the damaging effects that continued for years. Revenge plays a huge part in this novel along with the spiritual world. The characters will all learn from the ghosts of their past.
I would highly recommend this book due its historical significance, beautiful cultural descriptions and heartbreaking experiences felt by Yu Lan. What a wonderful story that will stay with me for a long time.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
March 20, 2023
I find this book is so entertaining, but the story is filled with sorrow and tragedy. The Concubine's Child is about 16-year-old Yu Lan, who was sold by her father to the wealthy and old Towkay Chan because his first wife cannot bear him a son. This book is divided into two different timelines.
1930s
The story started when Yu Lan was sold to the towkay. Her life changed dramatically. From once a happy young girl, to such a sorrowful and sad concubine. Her family and lover, Ming, abandoned her and she was at the mercy of the towkay and his jealous first wife. Even though she managed to give him a son, her son was soon taken away from her by the first wife and she claimed the boy her own. She then succumbed to her sadness but vowed revenge towards the Chans for taking away her life from her.
2016
Nicholas Chan had set his journey to Malaysia in order to find his roots. He only managed to meet his grandfather, whom later passed away and inherited him a house which the locals there called, the ghost house. He started to dig around there in order to uncover it's secrets but accident occurred leading to his death. His wife, Sarah, then returned to the house to continue finding the secrets of her late husband's heritage.
I think this book is great, even though the story is not a happy one. I cannot stop reading it as my curiosity grows. What Yu Lan had to endure was so heart breaking. Having her life stolen from her, and later her son, also taken from her, made her into an empty shell.
Overall, I like this book.
1930s
The story started when Yu Lan was sold to the towkay. Her life changed dramatically. From once a happy young girl, to such a sorrowful and sad concubine. Her family and lover, Ming, abandoned her and she was at the mercy of the towkay and his jealous first wife. Even though she managed to give him a son, her son was soon taken away from her by the first wife and she claimed the boy her own. She then succumbed to her sadness but vowed revenge towards the Chans for taking away her life from her.
2016
Nicholas Chan had set his journey to Malaysia in order to find his roots. He only managed to meet his grandfather, whom later passed away and inherited him a house which the locals there called, the ghost house. He started to dig around there in order to uncover it's secrets but accident occurred leading to his death. His wife, Sarah, then returned to the house to continue finding the secrets of her late husband's heritage.
I think this book is great, even though the story is not a happy one. I cannot stop reading it as my curiosity grows. What Yu Lan had to endure was so heart breaking. Having her life stolen from her, and later her son, also taken from her, made her into an empty shell.
Overall, I like this book.
June 3, 2018
So many thanks to Carol Jones, an Imprint of Head of Zeus and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.
The Concubine's Child will takes you for two different time, in 1930s Malaysia and in 2016. There will be two different generations which is one of the best thing in this book. This book tells so interesting way, how the money will be the power, if you are rich. Book was sad and full of sorrow but there was also hope, which makes this book so good. To me it was like a nice trip to old Kuala Lumper and Malaysia.
If you like to read historical romance and drama, you will love this book. There will be happy moments but also some which can make you cry, because you can feel the same sorrow what the characters feels. If you are fan of Kate Morton, Sarah Lark or Kate Furnivall, you will like this book also. But beware that you can't finish before end of the book, not even thought you need go to sleep or go to work.
The Concubine's Child will takes you for two different time, in 1930s Malaysia and in 2016. There will be two different generations which is one of the best thing in this book. This book tells so interesting way, how the money will be the power, if you are rich. Book was sad and full of sorrow but there was also hope, which makes this book so good. To me it was like a nice trip to old Kuala Lumper and Malaysia.
If you like to read historical romance and drama, you will love this book. There will be happy moments but also some which can make you cry, because you can feel the same sorrow what the characters feels. If you are fan of Kate Morton, Sarah Lark or Kate Furnivall, you will like this book also. But beware that you can't finish before end of the book, not even thought you need go to sleep or go to work.
May 7, 2018
Excellent book, beautifully written, Kuala Lumpur described with an intricate, intimate and well research feel. Challenging, sad and rich novel. I loved it.
October 21, 2018
An evocative read.......Steeped in tradition of Old-World Orient beliefs, this book will pull you into a secret world you may not know much about or are even ready to learn about. But you will. Historically, in 1930s Malaysia, it was a time of "do what you must" no matter the outcome. Imagine, your freedoms are taken away without question as is with our main character, 16 yr. old Yu Lan. Her life has been planned, manipulated, ingrained, and she has no idea what's in store for her at such a tender age.....
The characters are well-rounded and intense. The story is exotic, haunting, cursed, eventful and at the same time, full of soul and spirit. A sad and sorrowful multi-generational look into the lives of these characters will have you on edge as it twists and turns between good, bad and downright evil. It will pursue you in a way you feel you need to step in and set things straight before the unimaginable happens.
I found this to be educating, and well written, however the transition between past and present was a bit confusing in spots early on. This was an ARC e-reader copy (found a few mix-ups on the transition dates used and I believe due to that I felt I was reading an entirely different novel at one point).
That being said, the story was one I would recommend especially if you are a fan of Historical Fiction; my genre of choice. Thank you Carol Jones and NetGalley for this opportunity. I enjoyed this novel and it's significance.
Denise Birt
Novels & Latte Book Club
Novels N Latte
ARC
The characters are well-rounded and intense. The story is exotic, haunting, cursed, eventful and at the same time, full of soul and spirit. A sad and sorrowful multi-generational look into the lives of these characters will have you on edge as it twists and turns between good, bad and downright evil. It will pursue you in a way you feel you need to step in and set things straight before the unimaginable happens.
I found this to be educating, and well written, however the transition between past and present was a bit confusing in spots early on. This was an ARC e-reader copy (found a few mix-ups on the transition dates used and I believe due to that I felt I was reading an entirely different novel at one point).
That being said, the story was one I would recommend especially if you are a fan of Historical Fiction; my genre of choice. Thank you Carol Jones and NetGalley for this opportunity. I enjoyed this novel and it's significance.
Denise Birt
Novels & Latte Book Club
Novels N Latte
ARC
June 28, 2018
This was a sad story, consisting of dual timelines 1930's and 2017, both join together to leave you with a feeling of hope for what the future might bring. The 1930's Malaysian part of the story was very interesting albeit sad, learning about the fate of young girls who are bought and sold like commodities by their families, in this case as a concubine to a rich man, about the superstitions, beliefs and rituals they must carry out to please the ancestors and the gods, all made me glad I was not born in that era or that country. Nick from the 2017 timeline is the link to the past and we slowly learn what happens to the concubine and the Chan family. There are some unexpected events that revolve around Nick which in turn brought about some interesting twists. A very interesting and thought provoking story.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a copy in return for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a copy in return for an honest review.
August 31, 2018
Full review: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmuWA6mFg...
Loved it!
Highly Recommend it.
The experience of reading this book was really immersive. Not only does Carol Jones manage to describe Malaya of 1930s so beautifully, she manages to bring out the emotions of the characters, and everything is so raw and real. Without explicitly spelling it out, she manages to portray Yu Lan’s depression. How she seeks for solace inside her head. How living inside one’s head is a lot less traumatizing than living in the real world.
Carol Jones also doesn’t shy away from writing characters who are flawed. Her writing is vivid and evocative. One of the parts that really got to me was, how a mother was not allowed to nurse her baby, wasn’t allowed to hold her baby, the way she felt when she finally nursed her baby for the first time and her difficulty in bonding with the baby because she was never given the chance. Carol Jones has described this beautifully and it feels so real.
I love historical fiction and I really liked this book.
Loved it!
Highly Recommend it.
The experience of reading this book was really immersive. Not only does Carol Jones manage to describe Malaya of 1930s so beautifully, she manages to bring out the emotions of the characters, and everything is so raw and real. Without explicitly spelling it out, she manages to portray Yu Lan’s depression. How she seeks for solace inside her head. How living inside one’s head is a lot less traumatizing than living in the real world.
Carol Jones also doesn’t shy away from writing characters who are flawed. Her writing is vivid and evocative. One of the parts that really got to me was, how a mother was not allowed to nurse her baby, wasn’t allowed to hold her baby, the way she felt when she finally nursed her baby for the first time and her difficulty in bonding with the baby because she was never given the chance. Carol Jones has described this beautifully and it feels so real.
I love historical fiction and I really liked this book.
May 28, 2018
Disclaimer: I received this book from Pansing Distribution in exchange for an honest review.
_____________________________________________
When I was offered this book to review, I jumped at the opportunity because the title and the blurb seem to promise everything I love about Asian Literature - concubine, love, loss, sorrow. In addition, it is set largely in Malaysia so it is something I could identify with. In that respect, the book did not disappoint at all. This narration is rich in description and you could truly picture life as it was then in 1930s Kuala Lumpur. It is evident that a copious amount of research has gone into writing the story and the evocative writing style conjured images of how my late grandparents lived. The story is a step back in time if you, like me, have/had Chinese relatives who lived in the era.
The story's protagonist is 16-year-old Yu Lan (a quintessential Chinese name which means jade orchid), an uneducated city girl with dreams of marrying her childhood sweetheart, Ming. However, fate is unkind and her father sells her to a rich family so that she may produce an heir for them. The rest of the story tells us how she spirals into despair and struggles with her new identity and family. However, that's only half of the story. The other half is where the book's first and most glaring problem lies.
The narration switches back and forth between 1930s Malaya and 21st century England, where we get to know Nick's story. Nick is Yu Lan's great-grandson (this is revealed quite early on, so no spoiler there) and husband to Sarah, a British woman. Half of the story is about Nick and Sarah, mostly told from Sarah's perspective. Halfway through the book, I began to wonder if the title of the book should have been 'The Concubine and Her Great-grandson's Wife' because that's essentially what the book is about. The title is a glaring misnomer probably it is more catchy and would sell better. Yu Lan's child plays a negligible role in the story.
The book also has other more serious issues, for me. Firstly, Chinese cultural tropes permeate the book. Everything you could imagine about Chinese culture, you can find within the pages of this book. It felt like the author wanted to include everything she had found in her research in one book. Many of these tropes are accompanied by a token explanation eg how mandarin oranges are auspicious during Chinese New Year. If you're not a Malaysian Chinese, you might find all this information fascinating. If you are, you may find all these tiresome and trite.
In addition to the tropes, the some parts are unrealistic. As Yu Lan is an uneducated adolescent, it is highly unlikely that she would know about the inner workings of the Imperial Court of China and the childhood of China's last empress, Tzu Hsi (keeping in mind that the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1912 before Yu Lan was born). However, the book implies that Yu Lan knows all this information.
The last thing that might bother a reader are the odd collocations scattered throughout the narration. In the first chapter we encounter the phrase 'golden shadows behind her eyelids' which to me is perplexing. Further on in the story, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin is described to be staring down, 'daring [Yu Lan] to invade her domain'. It is highly irregular to depict the benign Guan Yin in such a threatening manner.
If you can overlook all these nagging details and irregularities, this does make an engaging story. The pace is good, the ending ties in well with the beginning, bringing the story to a full circle. There is a little ambiguity in the epilogue but then again, it could just be me reading too much into the description. I give this book 3.5 stars and I'd say it's an ambitious and mostly successful first attempt at writing a full-length novel for adult readers.
May 25, 2018
The Concubine’s child follows the life journey of Yu Lan, a young concubine in Kuala Lumper in the 30’s.
The sense of place is richly described and one can feel the heat and the humidity as well as the tropical environment and the energy of this vibrant city.
You are drawn into the superstitions and the spiritual life of the main characters.
Juxtaposing Yu Lan’s difficult life with her great grandson’s return to Malaysia to discover family secrets, this is a fascinating story from the past to modern times.
The sense of place is richly described and one can feel the heat and the humidity as well as the tropical environment and the energy of this vibrant city.
You are drawn into the superstitions and the spiritual life of the main characters.
Juxtaposing Yu Lan’s difficult life with her great grandson’s return to Malaysia to discover family secrets, this is a fascinating story from the past to modern times.
May 24, 2018
Two women from two eras fall in love with seemingly perfect men. The neatly-balanced dual times in this saga highlight the different complications which arise for Yu Lan in 1930s Kuala Lumper and modern day Sarah in the U.K.
The Earlier setting in 1930s KL shows an emerging industrial nation Where religion and superstition hold sway. So compelling is this early cultural influence that, even with all the individual freedom of contemporary times, the pull of the past remains.
I raced through The Concubine's Child wishing to see the fate of the protagonists change. No spoilers from me ... but their struggles stayed with me after the I closed the book for the last time.
The Earlier setting in 1930s KL shows an emerging industrial nation Where religion and superstition hold sway. So compelling is this early cultural influence that, even with all the individual freedom of contemporary times, the pull of the past remains.
I raced through The Concubine's Child wishing to see the fate of the protagonists change. No spoilers from me ... but their struggles stayed with me after the I closed the book for the last time.
August 22, 2018
Oh my this is beautiful and lyrical book, it is also indescribably sad and there is little relief from the sadness. The characters are well described and easy to imagine, the setting is clear and feels totally authentic, its fascinating to read the cultural situations which are so new to me, but it is a slow burn - so you have to be patient. There is a chink of light at the very end...
August 18, 2018
Carol Jones’ The Concubine’s Child is a mysterious and haunting book. Stylistically it works through different mediums, leaping betwixt past and present, and beginning with a very haunting prelude.
On one level this novel is very Dickensian. A stark tale of social injustices, indagating into the sado-masochistic depths of the Chinese-Malay patriarch system of the 1930s - a mixture of cruel traditional customs simmering in the greedy stew of the capitalist game that is money. In the first chapters we see, and feel, the cruelty from the perspective of the victim, the young concubine: submissive because socially impotent, repressed and exploited not only by the patriarchs themselves, but by the even more perverse complicity of the elder women. A complicity which almost seems more sadistic than the motives of the males.
It is this female complicity with the male system that generates the psychological complexity of the novel, for it deals with a society that is so patriarchally strong that the toughest women have to be more patriarchal than the patriarchs in order to have any power themselves. In this society the gender you are born with makes you a master or a slave, and if you’re a woman-slave, you had better learn how to manipulate the pecking order if you are going to have any success: you can at least become a master-slave of other slaves.
Slavery is the worst kind of consumerism, that which allows human beings to be commodities that can be bought and used freely, and the concubine-wife we are presented with here is perhaps the lowest kind of commodity. Sold for her body like a prostitute, but sold also as one man’s possession, as a personal slave. But then, all this is perhaps a logical result of the system: a system in which culture is inextricably linked with power and money, in which “everything had a price”.
This Dickensian narrative is mirrored by a contemporary setting that slowly unwinds, swinging between England and Malaysia in this current decade. The haunting feel of the introduction comes back, and we gradually realize that this is the same story but seen from a preludial perspective - from where the story should have begun, but it’s more interesting that we find it here rather than its natural or more conventional place. Now the story comes from a detective-like uncovering of past events from the present.
Stylistically things are very different as well, as if Dickens has been replaced by Daphne du Maurier floating into Ian McKewan, but this adds to the interest as well.
Thematically, there is also a twist. From the point of view of the time/space shift, the patriarchal system of the opening act is no longer present and the slavery to the system has been abolished. Or has it? Carol Jones now raises the question about happiness. Are we happy? And if, like Immanuel Kant, we make the association between happiness and freedom, then the question also implies another question: Are we free?
And as she brings up that question she highlights another theme for us: identity, that seeps into the already established themes of family and the need for heritage. Within the narrative between these first two acts a conflicting duality is implied, between a perspective of responsibility to our family and our ancestral roots as a universal necessity and the perverse patriarchal phenomenon that this necessity flows from.
The narrative begins to work like the construction of a bridge, building from the past in one instance, or from the present in the other. In the present we have already met the concubine’s child as an elderly man; from the past we get the circumstances of his mother’s pregnancy and his birth. This section could be titled injustice, or rebellion. What does it mean to be born into a cruel, unjust world? A world that robs us of that we love ...
And there are ghosts. Perhaps The Concubine’s Child could be labelled a ghost story, there is certainly a good dose of magic realism in it: it is undoubtedly an intelligent approach to the genre. There is suspense, and the story rolls easily along. But it is not fast-food, more like a delicious meal: each morsel leaves you with a mouth-watering anticipation of what will come next.
On one level this novel is very Dickensian. A stark tale of social injustices, indagating into the sado-masochistic depths of the Chinese-Malay patriarch system of the 1930s - a mixture of cruel traditional customs simmering in the greedy stew of the capitalist game that is money. In the first chapters we see, and feel, the cruelty from the perspective of the victim, the young concubine: submissive because socially impotent, repressed and exploited not only by the patriarchs themselves, but by the even more perverse complicity of the elder women. A complicity which almost seems more sadistic than the motives of the males.
It is this female complicity with the male system that generates the psychological complexity of the novel, for it deals with a society that is so patriarchally strong that the toughest women have to be more patriarchal than the patriarchs in order to have any power themselves. In this society the gender you are born with makes you a master or a slave, and if you’re a woman-slave, you had better learn how to manipulate the pecking order if you are going to have any success: you can at least become a master-slave of other slaves.
Slavery is the worst kind of consumerism, that which allows human beings to be commodities that can be bought and used freely, and the concubine-wife we are presented with here is perhaps the lowest kind of commodity. Sold for her body like a prostitute, but sold also as one man’s possession, as a personal slave. But then, all this is perhaps a logical result of the system: a system in which culture is inextricably linked with power and money, in which “everything had a price”.
This Dickensian narrative is mirrored by a contemporary setting that slowly unwinds, swinging between England and Malaysia in this current decade. The haunting feel of the introduction comes back, and we gradually realize that this is the same story but seen from a preludial perspective - from where the story should have begun, but it’s more interesting that we find it here rather than its natural or more conventional place. Now the story comes from a detective-like uncovering of past events from the present.
Stylistically things are very different as well, as if Dickens has been replaced by Daphne du Maurier floating into Ian McKewan, but this adds to the interest as well.
Thematically, there is also a twist. From the point of view of the time/space shift, the patriarchal system of the opening act is no longer present and the slavery to the system has been abolished. Or has it? Carol Jones now raises the question about happiness. Are we happy? And if, like Immanuel Kant, we make the association between happiness and freedom, then the question also implies another question: Are we free?
And as she brings up that question she highlights another theme for us: identity, that seeps into the already established themes of family and the need for heritage. Within the narrative between these first two acts a conflicting duality is implied, between a perspective of responsibility to our family and our ancestral roots as a universal necessity and the perverse patriarchal phenomenon that this necessity flows from.
The narrative begins to work like the construction of a bridge, building from the past in one instance, or from the present in the other. In the present we have already met the concubine’s child as an elderly man; from the past we get the circumstances of his mother’s pregnancy and his birth. This section could be titled injustice, or rebellion. What does it mean to be born into a cruel, unjust world? A world that robs us of that we love ...
And there are ghosts. Perhaps The Concubine’s Child could be labelled a ghost story, there is certainly a good dose of magic realism in it: it is undoubtedly an intelligent approach to the genre. There is suspense, and the story rolls easily along. But it is not fast-food, more like a delicious meal: each morsel leaves you with a mouth-watering anticipation of what will come next.
November 24, 2018
Dual timeline novel set in KUALA LUMPUR
In the 1930s Far East it was tradition for married men to often acquire a concubine or two, even one as young as 16 years old. Sadly, women are still married off at crazily young ages these days in many societies but the damage this is doing to young people is now more in the world’s eye.
Yu Luan arrives in Chan Towkay’s household, in principle to give the family offspring. She has had to leave behind a young man with whom she was determined to make a future life. Chan Towkay’s wife, the “older sister” is barren and has been unable to deliver. The older man, in his sixties, is quite taken with his new acquisition, much to the disgruntlement of his wife who tolerates her presence simply because she understands the necessity for providing an heir, and hopefully a son.
Yu Lan learns the art of strategy and has soon formed an allegiance, but once her baby arrives, her emotional responses begin to overwhelm her. She is simply a vehicle for baby production and the older sister basks in the glory of the new heir. Depression and despair come calling and it is her daily battle to survive emotionally that is at the heart of the story.
In present day Nick and Sarah in London are having difficulty finding a balance in their marriage of several years and when Nick is given the opportunity to take a teaching post in Kuala Lumpur, he drops the bombshell on both his wife and mother, June, when they are together over the Christmas period. He is moving for a couple of years to the Far East in the hope of connecting with his family’s past. Sarah is devastated and cannot grasp that this separation has materialised and June is extremely dubious about his desire to connect with his original, Chinese Chan family.
June knows there are untold mysteries in the Chan family, that ghosts – and in particular the ghostly image of a woman – travel down through the generations, visiting much sadness on their victims, harm even. She asks Nick to steer well clear, but he is a man on a mission, intent on discovering the secrets of the past. Neither June nor Sarah can deter him, to everyone’s cost as it transpires.
Setting is nicely done and the feel of 1930s Malaysia in particular really rises from the pages, the creeping jungle strangles everything in its path and the steamy foliage feels impenetrable. Some of the traditions within the local culture are also evocatively and well described.
I enjoyed reading this novel and was reasonably engrossed right until the end. There were some elements with which I struggled, however. The author rather labours some points (for example, Yu Lan is the unwilling bearer of Chan Towkey’s seed, this we know early on); she can hammer the points home with irksome regularity.
There is a fine line between ramping up tension and disrupting the flow. When authors drop a bombshell without any lead-in, I find myself scurrying back to check that I haven’t missed a major part of the plot somewhere along the line and this disrupts the flow. Indeed, in this novel, there certainly are are a couple of twists that really move the story forward but to my mind at the expense of smooth progression. The balance between the story set in the 1930s and present day is uneven and I felt that Sarah and Nick’s story didn’t get the depth of detail that made the historical storyline so rich.
There is much interesting detail of Yu Lan’s situation and one senses that the author is passionate about dismantling the damaging practise of marrying off very young girls in today’s world.
The writing is very good and with a lighter touch on the storyline I think this author is one to watch.
In the 1930s Far East it was tradition for married men to often acquire a concubine or two, even one as young as 16 years old. Sadly, women are still married off at crazily young ages these days in many societies but the damage this is doing to young people is now more in the world’s eye.
Yu Luan arrives in Chan Towkay’s household, in principle to give the family offspring. She has had to leave behind a young man with whom she was determined to make a future life. Chan Towkay’s wife, the “older sister” is barren and has been unable to deliver. The older man, in his sixties, is quite taken with his new acquisition, much to the disgruntlement of his wife who tolerates her presence simply because she understands the necessity for providing an heir, and hopefully a son.
Yu Lan learns the art of strategy and has soon formed an allegiance, but once her baby arrives, her emotional responses begin to overwhelm her. She is simply a vehicle for baby production and the older sister basks in the glory of the new heir. Depression and despair come calling and it is her daily battle to survive emotionally that is at the heart of the story.
In present day Nick and Sarah in London are having difficulty finding a balance in their marriage of several years and when Nick is given the opportunity to take a teaching post in Kuala Lumpur, he drops the bombshell on both his wife and mother, June, when they are together over the Christmas period. He is moving for a couple of years to the Far East in the hope of connecting with his family’s past. Sarah is devastated and cannot grasp that this separation has materialised and June is extremely dubious about his desire to connect with his original, Chinese Chan family.
June knows there are untold mysteries in the Chan family, that ghosts – and in particular the ghostly image of a woman – travel down through the generations, visiting much sadness on their victims, harm even. She asks Nick to steer well clear, but he is a man on a mission, intent on discovering the secrets of the past. Neither June nor Sarah can deter him, to everyone’s cost as it transpires.
Setting is nicely done and the feel of 1930s Malaysia in particular really rises from the pages, the creeping jungle strangles everything in its path and the steamy foliage feels impenetrable. Some of the traditions within the local culture are also evocatively and well described.
I enjoyed reading this novel and was reasonably engrossed right until the end. There were some elements with which I struggled, however. The author rather labours some points (for example, Yu Lan is the unwilling bearer of Chan Towkey’s seed, this we know early on); she can hammer the points home with irksome regularity.
There is a fine line between ramping up tension and disrupting the flow. When authors drop a bombshell without any lead-in, I find myself scurrying back to check that I haven’t missed a major part of the plot somewhere along the line and this disrupts the flow. Indeed, in this novel, there certainly are are a couple of twists that really move the story forward but to my mind at the expense of smooth progression. The balance between the story set in the 1930s and present day is uneven and I felt that Sarah and Nick’s story didn’t get the depth of detail that made the historical storyline so rich.
There is much interesting detail of Yu Lan’s situation and one senses that the author is passionate about dismantling the damaging practise of marrying off very young girls in today’s world.
The writing is very good and with a lighter touch on the storyline I think this author is one to watch.
February 20, 2021
I know I might be a couple of years late BUT This book was magnificently captivating! Period.
It is a Historical fiction Novel set in the era of a 1930's Malaysia with the chapters bouncing between the past & the present.
The story revolves around a teeanger named Yu Lan who was sold by her family to a wealthy old man, Towkay, from the Chan family, as a concubine. Towkay wants an heir to his family since his wife was barren. To summarise it all, Yu Lan went through hell when she was sold off. In the end, she did what she thought she could only do to avenge those who had wronged her.
Moving on, in the present, we have Nick Chan, Yu Lan's great-grandson who returns to Malaysia from the UK to uncover more about his family & the secrets of the past.
As I was reading, it troubled me to think about the lack of choices women had back in the day, in fact not too distant in the past. The lack of their right to choose the destiny they wanted...
Yu Lan didn't have the choice of being sold off as a concubine in the past. In the future, we have Su Lin who was given the opportunity to choose her own life's destiny. There were so many contrasting issues like these in the book, and the author absolutely nailed it in doing so.
Certain parts of the book made the hair on my arm rise, it literally scared the living daylights out of me probably because 1. Generally, I'm not a fan on reading about ghosts, spirits and all things supernatural. It just ain't my thing but this was totally an exception for me and it worked so well within the pages of this fantastic book! 2. I was reading this book until 3 in the morning because it was that good! (Reading THAT early in the morning on ghosts and spirits wasn't a good idea either.😅)
And of course there were the other parts of the book that made my heart bleed. One part in particular made me cry. Well, all I can say is, read to find out!
The plot twist was there. Well, at least I considered it to be a slight plot twist & as I was reading about it there was a tinge of both sadness and warmth in my heart. Throughout the book, I also could feel the vulnerability, the secrets, even the betrayals both in the past and the present coming out off the pages in the book.
It saddens me to realise that most of the time we will never know all the secrets of the past, of what and how it could have been, if only. And also the fact that you never really know someone you thought you knew.
In the end, to me at least, this book was about having peace with the past and moving forward towards the future.
This book has certainly turned out to be one of my most unexpected favourites of all time.
This book is such a rare gem & surely worth the read.
'Five for freedom...' This was the last sentence in the book & I ain't gonna lie when I say that this sentence and its words lingered in my mind long after I had finished reading it. It was such a poignant yet beautifully written line.
I personally would highly recommend this book!
It is a Historical fiction Novel set in the era of a 1930's Malaysia with the chapters bouncing between the past & the present.
The story revolves around a teeanger named Yu Lan who was sold by her family to a wealthy old man, Towkay, from the Chan family, as a concubine. Towkay wants an heir to his family since his wife was barren. To summarise it all, Yu Lan went through hell when she was sold off. In the end, she did what she thought she could only do to avenge those who had wronged her.
Moving on, in the present, we have Nick Chan, Yu Lan's great-grandson who returns to Malaysia from the UK to uncover more about his family & the secrets of the past.
As I was reading, it troubled me to think about the lack of choices women had back in the day, in fact not too distant in the past. The lack of their right to choose the destiny they wanted...
Yu Lan didn't have the choice of being sold off as a concubine in the past. In the future, we have Su Lin who was given the opportunity to choose her own life's destiny. There were so many contrasting issues like these in the book, and the author absolutely nailed it in doing so.
Certain parts of the book made the hair on my arm rise, it literally scared the living daylights out of me probably because 1. Generally, I'm not a fan on reading about ghosts, spirits and all things supernatural. It just ain't my thing but this was totally an exception for me and it worked so well within the pages of this fantastic book! 2. I was reading this book until 3 in the morning because it was that good! (Reading THAT early in the morning on ghosts and spirits wasn't a good idea either.😅)
And of course there were the other parts of the book that made my heart bleed. One part in particular made me cry. Well, all I can say is, read to find out!
The plot twist was there. Well, at least I considered it to be a slight plot twist & as I was reading about it there was a tinge of both sadness and warmth in my heart. Throughout the book, I also could feel the vulnerability, the secrets, even the betrayals both in the past and the present coming out off the pages in the book.
It saddens me to realise that most of the time we will never know all the secrets of the past, of what and how it could have been, if only. And also the fact that you never really know someone you thought you knew.
In the end, to me at least, this book was about having peace with the past and moving forward towards the future.
This book has certainly turned out to be one of my most unexpected favourites of all time.
This book is such a rare gem & surely worth the read.
'Five for freedom...' This was the last sentence in the book & I ain't gonna lie when I say that this sentence and its words lingered in my mind long after I had finished reading it. It was such a poignant yet beautifully written line.
I personally would highly recommend this book!
May 5, 2018
A richly layered saga of secrets, deception and passion which will go down a treat with fans of Dinah Jeffries and Kate Morton, The Concubine’s Child is an outstanding novel I couldn’t bear to put down!
In 1930s Malaya, sixteen year old girl Yu Lan, like other girls her age, fantasized about marrying her sweetheart and living a life of marital bliss, but sadly reality proved to be far different. When she was sold to a rich old man as his concubine, Yu Lan’s childhood had not only been brutally concluded forever, but all of her hopes and dreams for the future were shattered to smithereens. Forced to provide her captor with a much needed heir, Yu Lan was trapped, vulnerable and constantly bullied by his vicious and spiteful wife. Realizing that she could no longer continue living a life as a prisoner, Yu Lan decided to defy all the odds and escape from her prison. Even though she knew that her captors would pursue her to the ends of the earth, Yu Lan was absolutely desperate to escape…
Four generations later, Yu Lan’s grandson Nick has returned to Malaysia desperate to get to the bottom of a startling mystery that has haunted and persecuted him for his entire life. Nick wants to find the truth behind the mysterious facade of a house that had been cursed with dangerous falsehoods and cruel lies. But is he prepared for what he will find? Or are some secrets better off left dead and buried in the past?
Did Yu Lan ever find the happiness which she had been so desperate for? Will old ghosts ever be vanquished and laid to rest? Or will the past continue to exert its malevolent hold on Yu Lan and all her descendants?
The Concubine’s Child is a heart-wrenching tale which I found absolutely impossible to stop reading. Carol Jones is a wonderful storyteller who tells her story with plenty of heart, compassion and sensitivity and will keep readers on the edge of their seats desperate to find out what will happen next.
The Concubine’s Child is a story of hope, redemption and survival that is packed with wonderfully drawn characters, searing emotion, powerful intensity and nail-biting drama which will hold readers in thrall from start to finish. Uplifting, engrossing and wonderfully compelling, The Concubine’s Child is a book that is sure to stay with readers long after the last page is turned.
In 1930s Malaya, sixteen year old girl Yu Lan, like other girls her age, fantasized about marrying her sweetheart and living a life of marital bliss, but sadly reality proved to be far different. When she was sold to a rich old man as his concubine, Yu Lan’s childhood had not only been brutally concluded forever, but all of her hopes and dreams for the future were shattered to smithereens. Forced to provide her captor with a much needed heir, Yu Lan was trapped, vulnerable and constantly bullied by his vicious and spiteful wife. Realizing that she could no longer continue living a life as a prisoner, Yu Lan decided to defy all the odds and escape from her prison. Even though she knew that her captors would pursue her to the ends of the earth, Yu Lan was absolutely desperate to escape…
Four generations later, Yu Lan’s grandson Nick has returned to Malaysia desperate to get to the bottom of a startling mystery that has haunted and persecuted him for his entire life. Nick wants to find the truth behind the mysterious facade of a house that had been cursed with dangerous falsehoods and cruel lies. But is he prepared for what he will find? Or are some secrets better off left dead and buried in the past?
Did Yu Lan ever find the happiness which she had been so desperate for? Will old ghosts ever be vanquished and laid to rest? Or will the past continue to exert its malevolent hold on Yu Lan and all her descendants?
The Concubine’s Child is a heart-wrenching tale which I found absolutely impossible to stop reading. Carol Jones is a wonderful storyteller who tells her story with plenty of heart, compassion and sensitivity and will keep readers on the edge of their seats desperate to find out what will happen next.
The Concubine’s Child is a story of hope, redemption and survival that is packed with wonderfully drawn characters, searing emotion, powerful intensity and nail-biting drama which will hold readers in thrall from start to finish. Uplifting, engrossing and wonderfully compelling, The Concubine’s Child is a book that is sure to stay with readers long after the last page is turned.
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