Weina Dai Randel crée des récits historiques captivants centrés sur l'impératrice Wu (Wu Zetian), la seule impératrice de Chine. Son écriture explore la vie de femmes puissantes et leur impact dans des époques historiques importantes, en se concentrant sur de riches détails environnementaux et une psychologie complexe des personnages. Randel vise à créer un pont entre le passé et le présent, démontrant comment les mots peuvent forger des images qui transcendent la réalité ordinaire et créer des éclats de sagesse qui stimulent l'esprit. Sa voix distinctive est connue pour sa capacité à évoquer des scènes vives et des aperçus profonds, attirant profondément les lecteurs dans ses mondes méticuleusement recherchés.
At the moment of the Emperor's death, everything changes in the palace. Mei, his former concubine, is free, and Pheasant, the heir and Mei's lover, is proclaimed as the new Emperor, heralding a new era in China. But just when Mei believes she's closer to her dream, Pheasant's chief wife, Lady Wang, powerful and unpredictable, turns against Mei and takes unthinkable measures to stop her. The power struggle that ensues will determine Mei's fate-- and that of China.
From the author of The Last Rose of Shanghai comes a profoundly moving novel about a diplomatic couple who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis, based on the true story of Dr. Ho Fengshan, Righteous Among the Nations. 1938. Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace. Shy and ill at ease with the societal obligations of diplomats' wives, Grace is an outsider in a city beginning to feel the sweep of the Nazi dragnet. When Grace forms a friendship with her Jewish tutor, Lola Schnitzler, Dr. Ho requests that Grace keep her distance. His instructions are to maintain amicable relations with the Third Reich, and he and Grace are already under their vigilant eye. But when Lola's family is subjugated to a brutal pogrom, Dr. Ho decides to issue them visas to Shanghai. As violence against the Jews escalates after Kristallnacht and threats mount, Dr. Ho must issue thousands more to help Jews escape Vienna before World War II explodes. Based on a remarkable true story, Night Angels explores the risks brave souls took and the love and friendship they built and lost while fighting against incalculable evil.
1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi's club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz, but their differences seem insurmountable, and Aiyi is engaged to another man. As the war escalates, Aiyi and Ernest find themselves torn apart, and their choices between love and survival grow more desperate. In the face of overwhelming odds, a chain of events is set in motion that will change both their lives forever
A RITA Award Winner A 2016 RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Nominee for First Historical Romance There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the Emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. Young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the Emperor a gift he can never forget. Mei's intelligence and curiosity, the same traits that make her an outcast among the other concubines, impress the Emperor. But just as she is in a position to seduce the most powerful man in China, divided loyalties split the palace in two, culminating in a perilous battle that Mei can only hope to survive. In the breakthrough first volume in the Empress of Bright Moon duology, Weina Dai Randel paints a vibrant portrait of ancient China--where love, ambition, and loyalty can spell life or death--and the woman who came to rule it all.
V Šanghaji okupované Japonci jsou dva lidé z odlišných kultur svedeni
dohromady osudem a láskou k hudbě... Aiyi Shao je mladá dědička a majitelka
dříve populárního a okouzlujícího šanghajského nočního klubu. Ernest Reismann
je nemajetný židovský uprchlík vyhnaný z Německa, outsider hledající útočiště
ve městě, které se obává cizinců. Ztrácí téměř veškerou naději, dokud se
nesetká s Aiyi. Když si Ernesta najme, aby hrál v jejím klubu na klavír, její
vzdor vůči zvyklostem vyvolá senzaci. Díky Ernestově okamžité získané
popularitě se Aiyiin klub opět stane středobodem Šanghaje. Brzy si oba
uvědomí, že je spojuje víc než jen vášeň pro jazz, jenže jejich rozdíly se
zdají být nepřekonatelné a Aiyi je zasnoubená s jiným mužem. Jak se válka
stupňuje, Aiyi a Ernest jsou od sebe odtržení a jejich volby mezi láskou a
přežitím jsou stále zoufalejší. Tváří v tvář zdrcujícím okolnostem se dá do
pohybu řetězec událostí, který oběma navždy změní život.
