The Fat Man's Daughter"The year is 1937. Japan has already annexed the Chinese province of Manchuria and installed Henry Pu-Yi, the last Emperor of China, as the ruler of their new colony, renamed "Manchukuo." Hong Kong is a vortex of intrigue as its British rulers carry on with "the good life."" "Nineteen-year-old Leah Kolbe lines her eyes with kohl, covers her arms with bangles, dons a red silk dress slit up the sides and sets forth for the steamy streets of Hong Kong, the gambling dens of Macau, and beyond. Her father, a shady antiques dealer, the notorious Fat Man of Hong Kong, has died suddenly and mysteriously. Her inheritance is a massive house on Victoria Peak filled with the exquisite collection of antiques he had amassed as his stock in trade, the education in connoisseurship he has given her, and the maxims he has taught her, chief of which is "Everybody cheats. Be sure you cheat first." Leah aspires to follow in his footsteps." "The only person she trusts is An-li, her elderly Chinese amah. When Mr. Chang, a Kuomintang agent who says he knew her father, makes her a business proposition, at first Leah declines. But to keep her house and the business, Leah desperately needs ready money." "Chang's proposal launches Leah into danger as she heads north by train up the coast of China to Manchukuo. To survive, she must use all her father's cunning plus her own assets: determination, courage, and beauty."--BOOK JACKET. |
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Common terms and phrases
Amakasu An-li arms asked bowed breath Cantonese Cezar chair Chang cheongsam cheroot China Chinese clothes coat deck desk door dress drink Eldersen eunuch Everston eyes face fingers floor gave gaze girl glass hair hard Hawatyne head heard Hong Kong Hong Kong dollars Hsingking insect jade Japanese Japs jewels Jonathan junk Kenzo kissed knees knew Kolbe's laughed Leah nodded Leah saw Leah watched Leah's hand live looked Macanese Macau Manchukuo Manchuria Miss Kemp Miss Kolbe mouth Nanking night Okari opened papers Peak Tram photograph Pu Yi pulled pushed Quan Quan's Russian sampan shook shoulder silk Silva smell smile soldier Sonia squeezed stared stood stopped street suitcase taxi dancer tell Theo Theo's things thought took train treasures trousers turned Vasiliev Vestna Victoria Peak voice waiting walked whisky whispered woman Yi's young