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The White Pearl
by
Kate Furnivall (Goodreads Author)
National bestselling author of "The Russian Concubine," Kate Furnivall spins a tale of war, desperation, and the discovery of love off the coast of Malaya.
"Malaya, 1941." Connie Thornton plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Conn...more
"Malaya, 1941." Connie Thornton plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Conn...more
ebook, 448 pages
Published
March 6th 2012
by Berkley
(first published 2011)
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Oh. My. God. This book was terrible. The ONLY thing right about this book was the cover. It's a very pretty cover. Pretty colors. Ooooh.
Ok, so, what's wrong with the book, other than everything? I'll break it down for you.
1) The characters. Every single solitary character in this book was completely unlikeable. There was nothing that connected you to them, or that made them empathetic, or that even made you care if they lived or died (I was actually hoping some of them would die, just so I would...more
Ok, so, what's wrong with the book, other than everything? I'll break it down for you.
1) The characters. Every single solitary character in this book was completely unlikeable. There was nothing that connected you to them, or that made them empathetic, or that even made you care if they lived or died (I was actually hoping some of them would die, just so I would...more
Wasted opportunity...should have been five star but it gets three...by the end with the 'good gay' I was crying ( and not with sadness)...
This writer could be a Ken Follet...the first three chapters of this book about an Upper Middle Class British woman in Malaya are gripping: the pace, the scenes, her feelings are so real, so apt...and for once, for a woman of that time.
You think: yes, this is it. Hoorah...after one or two not so good books, this writer has learnt and knows what we want.
Oh dea...more
This writer could be a Ken Follet...the first three chapters of this book about an Upper Middle Class British woman in Malaya are gripping: the pace, the scenes, her feelings are so real, so apt...and for once, for a woman of that time.
You think: yes, this is it. Hoorah...after one or two not so good books, this writer has learnt and knows what we want.
Oh dea...more
THIS story revolves around Constance Thornton, a petite British blonde, who moved to Malaya after marrying Nigel Hadley. He is the owner of wealthy rubber plantation.
Life in Malaya is good for the imperial elite until one day Connie is involved in an accident while driving to pick up her son from school and her car kills a Malay woman. The woman curses Connie before she dies.
Connie feels responsible for the woman’s twin children and tries to help them but they are only concerned about making t...more
Life in Malaya is good for the imperial elite until one day Connie is involved in an accident while driving to pick up her son from school and her car kills a Malay woman. The woman curses Connie before she dies.
Connie feels responsible for the woman’s twin children and tries to help them but they are only concerned about making t...more
This book did some things well, but overall it didn't live up to it's potential. After I read In the Shadow of the Banyan I wanted to find other books that gave me a picture of life in southeastern Asia. The White Pearl definitely did that well, but it focused more on the people than the surroundings. I would have liked at bit more description of the world around the people.
Plotwise, I thought it took a little bit too long to get moving. In it's defense, I did read this one over a fairly long p...more
Plotwise, I thought it took a little bit too long to get moving. In it's defense, I did read this one over a fairly long p...more
Malaya, 1941. Connie Thornton plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Connie feels as though she is oppressed, crippled by boredom, sweltering heat, a loveless marriage. . .
Then, in December, the Japanese invade. Connie and her family flee, sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore, where the British are certain to stand firm against the Japanese. En...more
Then, in December, the Japanese invade. Connie and her family flee, sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore, where the British are certain to stand firm against the Japanese. En...more
Connie Hadley is a typical colonial wife of her time, but suffering under the stifling heat and weighed down by her guilt and secrets of her past. As the Japanese draw closer to Malaya and invasion looks more and more possible, Connie enlists the help of an enigmatic man, Fitzpayne, and together with her family and her friend Harriet's family, they flee for Singapore, said to be the impregnable fortress at the time.
This book was as meandering as their journey from Malaya to Singapore and just s...more
This book was as meandering as their journey from Malaya to Singapore and just s...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jacqui's review:
The White Pearl
A great read with secrets being unraveled throughout which kept me turning the pages to discover the next twist and revelation.
The main character, Connie, was a convincing heroine. The book explored her determination as a mother to keep her son safe, while doing her best for the casualties she meets along the way - all at great risk to herself.
The story weaves together a diverse group of people at the time of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, all with their own pers...more
I have heard several good reviews on Kate Furnivall's books, but have yet to read them. So when I came across her latest release, The White Pearl, I decided that this would be a good time to read it since the theme revolves around World War II set in Malaya and Singapore during the 1940s. Though I learnt about the history of the Japanese invaded Singapore during my secondary school days and have heard many horror stories on how the Japanese soldiers tormented the civilians then, I thought it wou...more
What a saga this was!
There's always something happening in this book, the characters are always in the move, you never really know what to expect so in that sense it's a fun, entertaining book.
I liked the 1st half of the book a lot more than the 2nd. Even though it wasn't a book that gripped me from the beginning because there is a lot of unpleasantness in the lives of the characters and they are not the most loveable and fun creatures on earth...but when I got into it, I enjoyed it. Unexpected...more
There's always something happening in this book, the characters are always in the move, you never really know what to expect so in that sense it's a fun, entertaining book.
I liked the 1st half of the book a lot more than the 2nd. Even though it wasn't a book that gripped me from the beginning because there is a lot of unpleasantness in the lives of the characters and they are not the most loveable and fun creatures on earth...but when I got into it, I enjoyed it. Unexpected...more
The White Pearl follows the journey of Constance and her companions, who, when Japan bomb Pearl Harbour in 1941 and War Begins find themselves in a life of turmoil.
Constance, a rubber plantation owners wife and mother to the inquisitive Teddy, feels unloved and displaced in her relationship, she can't remember the last time she shared some intimacy with her husband. Her story begins when she has an accident and kills a Malay woman, who, before she dies, places a curse on Connie and her family.
Wi...more
Constance, a rubber plantation owners wife and mother to the inquisitive Teddy, feels unloved and displaced in her relationship, she can't remember the last time she shared some intimacy with her husband. Her story begins when she has an accident and kills a Malay woman, who, before she dies, places a curse on Connie and her family.
Wi...more
Talk about thrills! Although this novel is also a romance, it is full of intrigue, danger, mayhem and death.
Constance Hadley lives on Malaya with her husband, a rubber plantation owner and their small son. It is 1941 and not very long into the novel, the Japanese attack. Connie's family races in their yacht, The white Pearl to Singapore only to find it also under attack. They are reduced to taking refuge with pirates in the jungle of an island.
The characters in this book are not what they seem....more
Constance Hadley lives on Malaya with her husband, a rubber plantation owner and their small son. It is 1941 and not very long into the novel, the Japanese attack. Connie's family races in their yacht, The white Pearl to Singapore only to find it also under attack. They are reduced to taking refuge with pirates in the jungle of an island.
The characters in this book are not what they seem....more
In "The White Pearl" by Kate Furnivall, we follow the story of Connie Hadley whose life is turned upside down when the Japanese invade the Malay peninsula in December 1941. The story follows her family, the loves of her life & the family of a woman who she accidentally kills in the books opening moments. Furnivall's story is hard to put down as you go through the emotions of this woman & the events surrounding her as WWII closes in. The title of the book comes from the Hadley family yach...more
This romantic suspense filled fiction transports the reader back in time to WW11 when the Japanese invaded Malaya shortly after their attack on Pearl Harbour. The British forces were soon overpowered, panic and chaos amongst the people erupted everywhere. One of Malaya’s wealthiest rubber plantation owners, the Hadley’s, with some of their closest friends decide there only chances of survival is to escape to Singapore on their private yacht the “White Pearl”. The epic highlights their struggle o...more
The White Pearl is a yacht owned by Constance Hadley a British woman who is living in Malaya on a rubbery plantation owned by her husband. Set in the time of the beginning of WWII, the story details her life before the war and then how the war destroys not only Malaya but all the people that she is involved with. She and her family flea on the white pearl. They are constantly encountering danger and tragedy but Connie's past follows her.
I enjoyed the historical facts regarding the war in the is...more
I enjoyed the historical facts regarding the war in the is...more
The White Pearl starts off with a bang...literally. OK, so that was in poor taste but let it suffice to say that the story jumps right in. And I thoroughly enjoyed the book up until about three-quarters of the way in. (view spoiler)...more
A story that delivers in a somewhat altered style what I have grown to enjoy about Kate Furnivall. Slightly strange to read something set in such a different world to the one the author usuallly inhabits, but apart from the ending it was an enjoyable story with an ambitious niche. Setting it in Malaya during the Second World War is perhaps a small aspect of why the ending that she did write is the only ending possible, but an ambitious "historical" drama needs to take a fuller account of where i...more
Much more of a page-turner than I expected, with a healthy dose of adventure, history, romance--all set in the South Pacific during WWII. This is the story of a British colonial family that escapes on--what else? their yacht--from the Japanese invasion of Malaysia. Most of the plot twists are fairly predictable to an experienced reader, but they are nevertheless entertaining, and there are a few genuine surprises along the way. Much of the sentence-level writing is strong but is reduced by its m...more
This story starts off seeming like it's going to a good place, but then it seems as if the author ran away with the plot. Any attempts at foreshadowing pretty much gave away what was going to happen, therefore plot twists weren't really all that surprising. When they were surprising, they were eyeroll-worthy because it was like "UH OH, THIS CHARACTER IS BAD!" "BUT WAIT! No he isn't."
Basically, by the end of the novel, I just couldn't wait to be finished. I feel like the plot could have been a l...more
Basically, by the end of the novel, I just couldn't wait to be finished. I feel like the plot could have been a l...more
I learnt so much about the history of WW11 and the invasion of Malaysia by the Japanese reading this book. It started with the Enlish living in the lap if luxury thinking they could never be overrun and that they could carry on living as if they owned the place and the citizens. The novel told the story of a group of people at the start of the conflict and how their lives become more entangled as the novel progresses. It is a great read with even a few gasp pit loud moments.
I have read as man a...more
I have read as man a...more
Connie Hadley is the wife of a rubber planation owner in Malaya with a son and a lifestyle that the English enjoyed before the second world war there. But in 1941 the Japanese begin to move their armies into Malaya and Connie flees with her son and husband. She has been involved with a Japanese man and tragedy ensues. There are other events in her life that come back to haunt her and affect it. The life in Malaya and the terror of the Japanese invasion are very well written and you do feel it. I...more
Atmosphere atmosphere atmosphere!! The book takes you straight to the tropical weather of Malaya.The atmosphere is weaved into the sentences she writes. Connie , an expat from England enters a new life in Malaya, her husband being a rubber plantation owner.She has been living in Malaya for years when the story begins ,however she is not yet used to the hot and humid weather of the country. The introduction of the native girl 'Maya' in the story is so strong that for a time I wondered as to who...more
Jun 02, 2012
Sarah Wagner
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
I did not enjoy this novel nearly as much as some of Kate Furnivall's previous ones. I did not find the characters engaging, and the plot stretched the imagination. Connie Hadley, a British colonial wife, manages to escape the Japanese-held Malaysia on a yacht with her family. In the course of their voyage, the party on the yacht rescues a downed Japanese pilot, one member is poisoned, another is eaten by a shark, and pirates are encountered - as well as the Japanese army. While this made for a...more
When Nigel proposes to Connie, he also offers her an exotic life as his wife at Hadley House, the family mansion in Malaya (now named Malaysia) where he runs a very profitable rubber tree plantation. She does not hesitate to say yes but after a few years and a son named Teddy, she realizes that theirs is a cold marriage and she dreams of returning to her home in England. She is resigned to stay in Malaya and tries to make her marriage work for the sake of her son.
The novel opens in 1941 when Co...more
The novel opens in 1941 when Co...more
2.5 stars. "The White Pearl" is a historical fiction book that takes place in Southeast Asia during World War II. It follows Connie, a woman who can't stop thinking about her past and what would have happened if she followed a different path.
Unfortunately this book wasn't my favorite at all:
Characters: I didn't feel like you got to know any of the characters very well at all, not even the main character, Connie. I really wanted to understand more about the various characters so you can understan...more
Unfortunately this book wasn't my favorite at all:
Characters: I didn't feel like you got to know any of the characters very well at all, not even the main character, Connie. I really wanted to understand more about the various characters so you can understan...more
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is set in 1941 Malaysia at the brink of World War II. When the Japanese invade, the British couple and their young son are forced to flee their rubber plantation in their yacht along with friends. Intending to make it to Singapore they find that it is already under siege. They are forced to move perilously from island to island trying to stay ahead of the Japanese soldiers. A heart pounding and an exciting read. I highly recommend it.
Kate Furnival is one of my favorite authors, I have read all her books.
This story begins in Malaya in 1941 when the Japanese invaid Malaya, Connie Hadley marri3ed to a British rubber plantation owner. Connie & her family, a couple of friends flee sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore,they learn it is already under siege. This book kept me on the edge, would stay up have the night reading this. As all of her books The White Pearl is a must read.
This story begins in Malaya in 1941 when the Japanese invaid Malaya, Connie Hadley marri3ed to a British rubber plantation owner. Connie & her family, a couple of friends flee sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore,they learn it is already under siege. This book kept me on the edge, would stay up have the night reading this. As all of her books The White Pearl is a must read.
It is a great novel to read when you are looking for something fairly light and entertaining. It's not at all a life changing book (like Kite Runner or Shantaram), but I enjoyed it. Sometimes you just need to escape your world and join another. Furnivall is very good at this... in each of her novels I have found myself transported into another time and place (most of the time, Russia and China).
I LOVED her other novels, and I had high expectations for this one. It was good, and I enjoyed it, but...more
I LOVED her other novels, and I had high expectations for this one. It was good, and I enjoyed it, but...more
I really enjoyed this book and all the characters in it. It was a pleasant surprise because I just picked it really quickly in a hurry one day. It gives a really interesting perspective on World War II in the Far East. I'm not sure if it didn't get a bit farcical in the end but it was still a really good read. I love all the characters and really have a vision of them in my minds eye - this would make a great film and I just love the main character Connie (and secretly want to be her!). This boo...more
You'd think an author intending to write a book set in an exotic, foreign culture would at least do her research. Being a proud citizen of Malaysia (present-day Malaya), trust me when I say this book might as well have been based in Portland, Oregon for all the similarities it bears to Malaya (an exaggeration, but you get my point).
It's insulting to us and to the author herself. Please, woman, do your research.
It's insulting to us and to the author herself. Please, woman, do your research.
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| Historical Fictio...: Win a copy of The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall | 1 | 29 | Mar 07, 2012 12:26pm | |
| Book Giveaways: Win The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall! | 3 | 10 | Mar 06, 2012 02:09am |
Kate Furnivall was raised in Penarth, a small seaside town in Wales. Her mother, whose own childhood was spent in Russia, China and India, discovered at an early age that the world around us is so volatile, that the only things of true value are those inside your head and your heart. These values Kate explores in The Russian Concubine.
Kate went to London University where she studied English and fr...more
More about Kate Furnivall...
Kate went to London University where she studied English and fr...more
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updated Apr 07, 2012 08:31am
Yes, unfortunately it happens. And no, a three star review is not a bad b...more
Apr 07, 2012 08:33am