The Phoenix Crown

A Novel

De: Kate Quinn, Janie Chang

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld, Katharine Chin

From bestselling authors Janie Chang and Kate Quinn, a thrilling and unforgettable narrative about the intertwined lives of two wronged women, spanning from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles.

San Francisco, 1906. In a city bustling with newly minted millionaires and scheming upstarts, two very different women hope to change their fortunes: Gemma, a golden-haired, silver-voiced soprano whose career desperately needs rekindling, and Suling, a petite and resolute Chinatown embroideress who is determined to escape an arranged marriage. Their paths cross when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace.

His patronage offers Gemma and Suling the chance of a lifetime, but their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a mystery reaching further than anyone could have imagined . . . until the Phoenix Crown reappears five years later at a sumptuous Paris costume ball, drawing Gemma and Suling together in one last desperate quest for justice.

©2023 Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Characters were one-dimensional

I love Kate Quinn, so I was very disappointed when the characters in this novel did not resonate as in previous works.

I love Kate Quinn and Saskia Maarleveld

I love Kate Quinn and Saskia Maarleveld. Quinn’s WWII historical fiction books are my absolute favorite! Maybe because my expectation for anything written by Quinn is exceptionally high, but the shared writing did not live up to her solo novels. The sections of the novel narrated by Saskia Maarleveld are superb, I would give the performance by Saskia five out of five.

Kate Quinn never dissapoints

I love anything by Kate Quinn, and the narrator Saskia Maarleveld - and this did not disappoint. I wondered if I would be ok with the 2 authors and 2 narrators, but I definitely enjoyed Janie Chang and Katherine Chin as well. It had my attention from the start, a few twists and turns, and I loved anticipating how the earthquake was going to affect the story. Maybe not as intense as some of the other Kate Quinn books, but that is ok - it was very good, and I would highly recommend it.

Loved the performances

Mid way through it felt too contrived and I was blindsided by the relationship between 2 of the primary characters. Because I was half way through, I had to finish it but it did take a turn for me from that point forward. I’m an SF native and a history buff so I was excited to read this book but overall, felt disappointed.

Loved the story 🥰

Enjoy the characters. I thought they were well developed. Love the historical background was extremely informative.

Excellent

These two authors are a match made in heaven. Do hope they collaborate again in a near future

PHENOMENAL???

Kate Quinn has done it again! along with her co-author, Jamie chang, she's created a masterpiece. the book has just enough of everything historical detail, suspense, dire circumstances, seemingly hopeless dilemma's, surprising twists, and happy endings, this is my first Jamie Chang experience and I was already in love with Kate's snappy, engrossing style. I absolutely cannot recommend this wonderful, wonderful book enough.

Wonderful story

I loved both the story, history and narration. Adore Saskia Maarlevald!
This story has amazing talented and strong female characters

Too long at times

The author does repeat story details over and over what stretches dome parts of the book for no reason.

Such a great storyline

Such a good story and charactersy. Both of these authors never let the reader down.