Read It Forward discussion

Da Chen's latest novel My Last Empress: A Novel is a very unusual love story, filled with ghosts and grief, where bewitching concubines, treacherous eunuchs, and fierce warlords battle for supremacy. He takes us into an epic saga of 19th century China, so it's historical fiction, too.

You can learn more in Da Chen's essay for Read It Forward.

What's your favorite love story?

I never read love stories anymore, except a few years ago when I read THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, which I read against my better judgement because of all the great reviews I read. It's fantasy, isn't it? That's not my type of book, but it did turn out to be a pretty good love story. But I didn't think it would be for the first few chapters.

Years ago I read all those authors like the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen, and, as I recall, JANE EYRE was a good love story.

By the way, 1) when I comment on readitforward.com, my name is techeditor and 2) I read BUDDY by Brian McGrory and will have a review soon; if you give me an email address, I'll send it to you.