Sweet Mandarin by Helen Tse

True Historical Family Saga

When Cambridge educated lawyer Helen Tse decided to give up her career to go back to her roots and open up a Chinese restaurant with her two sisters, her elders thought she was nuts. Her grandmother and mother work hard so that Helen and her sister's could all get good educations and not have the worries and work that a restaurant owner has. Lily, her grandmother and Mabel, her mother should know, they both had owned restaurants.

Before deciding to open the restaurant, Helen decided to take a journey back in time to discover her family history. Her great grandfather had a soy sauce business in China. He moved his family from a poor country village to the hustle and bustle of city life in Hong Kong. Not long after he died and the family had to find a way to make survive. Lily, just a child herself takes a job as an amah for a British family. An amah takes care of children.

Lily eventually married and had children herself, but her husband left her. She continued as an amah while her mother took care of her children. She befriends the family she was working for and got an invitation to move with them to England. This invitation didn't include her children, so what was she to do? What would you do?

I won't tell you anymore for risk of spoilers.

When I first read the description of the book it intrigued me but at the same time had the potential to be saccharin sweet. This was not the case. This a true multi generational family saga that is not to be missed. It got off to a bit of a slow start but after a short while, Helen Tse had me turning the pages until the end. This is an inspiring story that is not syrupy sweet.

4/5

Thanks to St. Martin's Press send my a copy of this book!

Mistress of The Revolution by Catherine Delors

This was a difficult review to write. I enjoyed the book very much and I wanted to do it justice but sometimes there are so many things you appreciate that you get overwhelmed when it comes to writing the review.

This book reads like a memoir, the heroine is looking back on her past and telling us about her life. There are only a few occasions in which we are brought back to the present and actually know her as an old woman.

This is a book about a very sensitive period in history. The French Revolution gave us the ideals we still live by today but at the same time it was a period of such blood shed that sometimes, when I read about it, the good parts pale in comparison.

The book starts as Gabrielle de Montserrat is brought to her family to live after a few years living with a nurse and then a few more in a convent completing her education. Her family belongs to the impoverished aristocracy and it is understood that she will be expected to marry well. However Gabrielle ends up falling in love with a young commoner - Pierre Andre Coffinhal - and to prevent them from being together her brother marries her to a man thrice her age when she is only 15. Said husband will mistreat her before finally dying and leaving her penniless and with a little daughter. Without any other options she accepts to go to Paris and live with an old relation. There she will be in touch with the court life and the last moments of the Old Regime. Her story is not uncommon when it comes to the history of women in general. Dependent on men to provide for her, as due to her status work can't be considered, she becomes the mistress of a rich men. Her position as Lady In Waiting to the Countess of Provence will allow her to get to know the most important personalities in the political scene. After the monarchy is abolished she is reduced to a "ci-devant" (an ex) Baroness and in a world where titles are no longer tolerated she finds herself imprisoned and in constant danger of being tried and killed just because she was an aristocrat. As the situation collapses she asks for the help of Pierre-Andree who has risen to be an important member of the Revolutionary Tribunal and a close friend of Robespierre. The relationship that they develop will allow Gabrielle and us to follow the period of the Terror and its political changes especially it what concerns civil rights. From its beginning till the moment when the leaders of the revolution end up being led to the guillotine themselves.

I found it strange at first that Gabrielle could mention so many horrifying things in a detached manner. But then it struck me that she is looking back into the past, some events are long gone and we are watching them through her eyes. The first person point of view also helps with that. It’s an interesting way of telling the story and I also found it important in a different level. She manages to convey both the old world and the new society that comes out of the revolution without being judgemental. It’s through Pierre-Andre’s character that we have most of the analysis and condemnation of the old regime and the defence of the new order. Gabrielle has a more feminine approach to reality with worries about family and friends which make her observations very interesting in a different way. I felt that last part of the book was the stronger one and why I ended up loving it so much.

The romantic element is strong but this is Gabrielle's story, not a romance, and in the end she survives and becomes stronger. When she reaches the end of her story she is in London and thinks about how twenty three years later the émigrés are returning to France as the Bourbons were restored to the throne. She, however, will never be able to go back…

The characters are interesting and I felt that the more I knew them the more I wanted to know. The historical background is really well done. We get a true feeling of the period without it taking centre stage.

One final note to say the book is populated by real people, who actually existed – starting with Coffinhal - and I really liked that.

Grade: A