Category: Reading Challenges

Book Review: The Concubine’s Child by Carol Jones

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The Concubine's ChildAbout the Book

In 1930s Malaya a sixteen-year-old girl, dreaming of marriage to her sweetheart, is sold as a concubine to a rich old man desperate for an heir. Trapped, and bullied by his spiteful wife, Yu Lan plans to escape with her baby son, despite knowing that they will pursue her to the ends of the earth.

Four generations later, her great-grandson, Nick, will return to Malaysia, looking for the truth behind the facade of a house cursed by the unhappy past. Nothing can prepare him for what he will find.

This exquisitely rich novel brings to life a vanished world – a world of abandoned ghost houses, inquisitive monkeys, smoky temples and a panoply of gods and demons. A world where a poor girl can be sold to fulfil a rich man’s dream. But though he can buy her body, he can never capture her soul, nor quench her spirit.

Format: ebook, hardcover (384 pp.)                  Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 1st April (ebook), 31st May 2018  (hardcover) Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ  Amazon.com ǀ Kobo | Google Play | iBooks | Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Concubine’s Child on Goodreads

My Review

When Yu Lan’s father, an apothecary, contracts her to be the ‘second wife’ or concubine of rich mine owner, Chan Boon Siew, she has no idea what lies in store for her.  As well as the unwelcome attentions of her new husband eager to beget the sons that his first wife has been unable to provide, Yu Lan has to cope with life as a virtual prisoner in their home and the jealousy of Chan’s first wife.  It turns out that the role of ‘second wife’ amounts to that of a second-class citizen with none of the ‘rights’ or position of respect granted to a first wife.  ‘But as a concubine, a chieh, her husband would decide when and if she might visit her birth family.  As a concubine, she would receive no dowry of gold and jewellery, own no property. She wouldn’t return to her parents’ home on the third day after the wedding with gifts of roast pig and other delicacies….There would be no red posters outside the apothecary’s shop announcing to all that her father was receiving a gifted son-in-law into their family.’

Furthermore, as events unfold, Yu Lan is forced to see Mrs. Chan usurp the role of mother to the son to whom she gives birth.  Initially cowed into submission, Yu Lan eventually finds help and friendship in the person of Ho Jie, amah to the Chan household and a so-called ‘self-combed woman’.   In due course, Yu Lan finds the courage to fight back in a way that will have repercussions down the years.

I’ve previously confessed that I sometimes have problems with books that have a dual timeline structure; often I find the story set in the past much more compelling than that set in the present day.  I’m pleased to report that, in the case of The Concubine’s Child, although I did find Yu Lan’s story the most absorbing, the modern day story also held my attention – not least because of the curved ball the author delivers part way through the book.

The modern day story, as well as being a search for answers about Nick’s family history, is also an insightful portrait of a marriage under strain.  It’s a marriage where the intense flames of first love have died down, not helped by Nick’s decision to accept an academic posting in Kuala Lumpur that will mean him and his wife, Sarah, spending months apart.    Eventually, Sarah will face heartbreaking choices about their life together.

Although set in Kuala Lumpur, the book is full of fascinating detail about Chinese customs, festivals, clothing and food.  And there are some evocative descriptions of the landscape and wildlife of Malaysia.  ‘A chorus of cicadas greeted them as they stepped onto a path that wound through thick forest.  It followed the course of a river that cascaded over boulders in a gradual descent down the mountain.  Small lizards poked their heads out from under decaying leaves that carpeted the jungle floor, while the occasional centipede scurried underfoot.  Above them the trees echoed with the chatter of monkeys and unfamiliar birdcalls.’

The Concubine’s Child is a powerful story of love, loss and of history repeating itself.  Oh, and that revenge is a dish best served cold…and perhaps stinky?

You can read a fantastic guest post here from Carol about how her first trip to Malaysia provided the inspiration for the setting of her novel. Oh, and her experiences of naughty macaques.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, atmospheric, emotional

Try something similar…Court of Lions by Jane Johnson (read my review here)

Autosave-File vom d-lab2/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbHAbout the Author

Born in Brisbane, Australia, Carol Jones taught English and Drama at secondary schools before working as an editor of children’s magazines. She is the author of several young adult novels as well as children’s non-fiction.

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Buchan of the Month: A Lost Lady of Old Years by John Buchan

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Buchan of the Month

A Lost Lady of Old YearsAbout the Book

Set in Scotland in 1745, during the Jacobite Rebellion, this dark story of loyalty and betrayal on the road to Culloden Moor recounts the adventures of Francis Birkenshaw.

The Jacobite cause means nothing to him until a chance meeting with the beautiful Margaret Murray presents an opportunity for profit and adventure.

The fateful encounter marks the beginning of Francis’s involvement with John Murray of Broughton, an infamous traitor and turncoat.

Format: Paperback, ebook (224 pp.)    Publisher: Polygon
Published: 25 August 2012 [1899]        Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find A Lost Lady of Old Years on Goodreads

My Review

A Lost Lady of Old Years is the fifth book in my Buchan of the Month reading project.  You can find out more about the project plus my reading list for 2018 here.  It is one of the few books by John Buchan I’ve not read before.  I’m going to preface this review by stating that, in my opinion, A Lost Lady of Old Years is not the best book John Buchan ever wrote although, to be fair, it was published early in his writing career.  You can read a spoiler-free introduction to the book here.

Buchan paints a picture of a young man, Francis Birkenshaw, the son of a good family, who nevertheless finds himself unsure of his place in the world.  He falls prey to the lure of alcohol, women and the odd spot of fisticuffs in the local taverns.  His desire for adventure brings him close to the borders of criminality resulting in him having to make a speedy escape from his hometown, leaving behind the staid career that had been mapped out for him.

He decides to travel to France but events intervene, notably his meeting with the beautiful and virtuous Margaret Murray, wife of John Murray of Broughton, an influential supported of ‘Bonnie’ Prince Charlie.  Entrusted with an important task by Mrs Murray, he has a kind of epiphany inspired by her honour and virtue and begins to seek a different path in life.  Carrying out the task he has been entrusted with and what follows bring him in close proximity to influential people and dramatic events in Scottish history, such as the Battle of Culloden.

In the book’s dialogue, Buchan seeks to reproduce the Scottish mode of speech, including  local dialect words (‘kenspeckle’, ‘camsteery’ or ‘clanjamphray’ anyone?) with a bit of Gaelic thrown in for good measure.  This takes some getting used to and might prove problematic for some readers.  I think it would also help to have some prior knowledge of the history of that period, particularly the Jacobite Rebellion.  Mine was only sketchy so I did have to do some research after reading the book to check how close the story sticks to historical fact.  (As far as the main characters go – John Murray of Broughton, Lord Lovat, etc – the answer is pretty close, although Francis Birkenshaw is an entirely fictional character.)

In A Lost Lady of Old Years, Buchan explores themes that he would revisit in later books such as The Half-Hearted (next month’s Buchan of the Month), Mr. Standfast and Sick Heart River.  These themes of self-sacrifice, duty and courage we can perhaps trace back to his upbringing and the text that was so influential throughout his life, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.  At the end of the book, both Francis and Margaret face a difficult moral choice between following their hearts or their consciences.  Choice made, Margaret reflects, ‘After the colours the sober grey, for you as well as me, Francis.’  Buchan would later revisit this period of history in his novel, Midwinter.

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In three words: Dramatic, romantic, historical

Try something similar…Midwinter by John Buchan

John BuchanAbout the Author

John Buchan (1875 – 1940) was an author, poet, lawyer, publisher, journalist, war correspondent, Member of Parliament, University Chancellor, keen angler and family man.  He was ennobled and, as Lord Tweedsmuir, became Governor-General of Canada.  In this role, he signed Canada’s entry into the Second World War.   Nowadays he is probably best known – maybe only known – as the author of The Thirty-Nine Steps.  However, in his lifetime he published over 100 books: fiction, poetry, short stories, biographies, memoirs and history.

You can find out more about John Buchan, his life and literary output by visiting The John Buchan Society website.