Sarah Mac’s Reviews > China Shadow > Status Update

'China had seemed to give her everything, then in the end she had instead been stripped of all she'd loved.'

Now Flora has befriended Charles Dickens, helped to down the Evul Hospital, worked 2 years as a bookstore clerk, married Henry's business partner Chen Li, & moved back to Canton as a rich lady. (The madcap Dan Ross plot pacing strikes again.)

'Each cell door had a tiny opening through which clawlike hands with long nails emerged as the mad occupants groped for freedom. It was also from down there in those dungeons of despair the weird wailing emanated.' ....This book has become a Vincent Price movie! Omgwtf. >:D

'Flora made no promises to Han Li because she was determined to leave. The fact that the lovely Chinese girl had also heard the eerie screams & seen the ghost convinced her that tragedy would continue to stalk Armitage House. She wanted no part of it.'

"Captain Christie showed me the various books on the subject he has in his cabin. He even has an illustrated guide to surgery -- just studying the plates made me shudder." ....Meet Mr Henry Armitage, a terminal woobie who possesses neither a backbone nor a pair of balls. BUT HE'S SO HANDSOME!

"There are dark secrets I cannot dispel, much as I would like to. Grim secrets which I must keep hidden for the good of all. Neither my son nor my daughter completely understand this." ....Long-suffering elder Mr Armitage has spoken. Commence the DOOM. :D

Armitage House family dynamics are reminding me of 'Face in the Pond.' The only question is whether this book will include legit incest, rather than veiled hints. The Lannister disease strikes again! >:D

William Gladstone makes a brief cameo: "Perhaps you will never again enjoy the tranquility that you knew in that vicarage in Sussex. But I can promise you if I'm able to secure you the position at Armitage House it could be a happy new beginning." ....Brace yourself, Flora. :P

Story update: Flora & her new friend Dolly manage to escape the bitchy madam by setting fire to a brothel, then take refuge at a nearby mission for the poor & destitute...where an angry prostitute tries to stab Dolly in revenge of the dead madam, but Flora leaps between them & gets a knife in the shoulder. (No satanists...yet. :D)

'She'd walked straight into a trap. The more she thought about it the surer she was that Mrs Fernald was running a house of ill-fame. All the signs had been present & she'd ignored them. In retrospect she couldn't imagine how she could have been so stupid.' ....It's okay, Flora. We've all been there. Maybe not tricked into a prostitution ring -- but the self-loathing stupidity, yeah. :P