The Emperor’s Bones

THE EMPEROR'S BONES is the new blockbuster from the author of THE PALACE OF HEAVENLY PLEASURE, which was set in the Boxer Rebellion and was a truly sensational read. The time has moved forward nearly a quarter of a century to 1922, with Communism – both Soviet and Chinese – on the rise, warlordism rampant and a beautiful young nurse being buffeted by perils personal, political, emotional and financial. I'm 100 pages in and I now look forward to every moment of spare time between now and the end of the summer holidays in which to finish it. The author has lived and worked in China and Hong Kong for much of his life, and therefore has an acute ear for convincing dialogue: he has also clearly taken many of the huge range of characters from his own family, who have lived in China since the 19th century. The resulting combination of high politics, low cunning, passionate love-story and sweeping, cinematic Sino-saga will keep me very happy.