Book Review: China by Edward Rutherfurd
The internationally bestselling author portrays the great clash of East and West in his new epic: China.
China in the nineteenth century: a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. The West desires Chinese tea above all other things but lacks the silver to buy it. Instead, western adventurers resort to smuggling opium in exchange.
The Qing Emperor will not allow his people to sink into addiction. Viceroy Lin is sent to the epicentre of the opium trade, Canton, to stop it. The Opium Wars begin – heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties which will become known as the Century of Humiliation.
From Hong Kong to Beijing to the Great Wall, from the exotic wonders of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, to squalid village huts, the dramatic struggle rages across the Celestial Kingdom. This is the story of the Chinese people, high and low, and the Westerners who came to exploit the riches of their ancient land and culture.
We meet a young village wife struggling with the rigid traditions of her people, Manchu empresses and warriors, powerful eunuchs, fanatical Taiping and Boxer Rebels, savvy Chinese pirates, artists, concubines, scoundrels and heroes, well-intentioned missionaries and the rapacious merchants, diplomats and soldiers of the West. Fortunes will rise and fall, loves will be gained and lost.
This is an unforgettable tale told from both sides of the divide. The clash of worldviews, of culture and heritage, is shown in a kaleidoscope of jaw-dropping set pieces. China is a feat of the imagination that will enthral, instruct and excite, and show us how things once were, and how the turmoil of the nineteenth century led to modern China’s revolution and rebirth.
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
Released February 2022
My Thoughts:‘There was nothing stiff or formal about the Chinese ritual of serving tea. The aim was to make the guest feel welcome, at home, at peace. Every move was simple and practical. The warming of the teapot and the wide, bowl-shaped cups with hot water; the gentle tipping of the dark twists of tea leaf into the teapot. The scenting up offered to each guest to sniff the tea’s aroma; the first infusion in the teapot; then the pouring of the tea, straining the leaves, into a jug, from which the cups were carefully half filled; no more, with the clear, delicately scented liquid.’
Grandly ambitious and epic in scope, China itself was the main character with all other characters seemingly just bit players along the way. This novel is impressive for its depth and span, the research must have been phenomenal. Ultimately though, it was far too long for me. The author did an excellent job at ensuring it was not confusing nor convoluted, but at almost 800 pages of tiny print long, it was like reading the novel that never ends. I think I’ve come to realise that I’m no longer the type of reader who enjoys ‘big books’. I have neither the time nor the attention span for them. If you do like big books though, particularly epic historical sagas, this one is very good. Well written, well researched, balanced between the political and the social, and most importantly, engrossing.
Read throughout January as a buddy read with Brooke from All The Books I Can Read.
