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A review by justabean_reads
The Phoenix Crown by Janie Chang, Kate Quinn
4.0
Mystery thriller set in and around the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, intertwining the lives of a soprano on her last chance at success, and a Chinese-American laundress trying to get out of town before her family implodes. Also, the real historical head of botany at the science institute, the laundress' ex-girlfriend, the Great Caruso, a robber baron, and about four hundred other moving pieces. All of which are duly tossed into the catastrophe, then the city burns down around them. It's certainly a page turner!
I'd read Kate Quinn before, but hadn't gotten around to Janie Chang, who is on a similar Women Doing Stuff in History beat but more Chinese diaspora focused. It's a genre I often enjoy, when it's not too saccharine, nostalgic and/or heterosexual. This managed to avoid all three, with a focus on the friendships between the women, and everyone having shit to do over and above pining or moping. It did to some extent fall into the fourth trap of sounding just a little too modern in places. The historical setting and feel both clearly had a tonne of research behind them, and I loved all the lush details especially around the clothes, but some of the turns of phrase and patterns of thought felt very 21st century. It wasn't enough to completely throw me out, but I definetely noticed it.
However, it's an enjoyable example of the genre, and I'm glad that a book with a queer Chinese heroine is currently a best seller here.
I'd read Kate Quinn before, but hadn't gotten around to Janie Chang, who is on a similar Women Doing Stuff in History beat but more Chinese diaspora focused. It's a genre I often enjoy, when it's not too saccharine, nostalgic and/or heterosexual. This managed to avoid all three, with a focus on the friendships between the women, and everyone having shit to do over and above pining or moping. It did to some extent fall into the fourth trap of sounding just a little too modern in places. The historical setting and feel both clearly had a tonne of research behind them, and I loved all the lush details especially around the clothes, but some of the turns of phrase and patterns of thought felt very 21st century. It wasn't enough to completely throw me out, but I definetely noticed it.
However, it's an enjoyable example of the genre, and I'm glad that a book with a queer Chinese heroine is currently a best seller here.