{"product_id":"9780008644543","title":"The Phoenix Crown","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn unforgettable story 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 . . .                         Praise for The Phoenix Crown:                    `Impeccably researched, magnificently rendered, and breathlessly paced' JAMIE FORD          `Seamless, page-turning masterpiece of history and suspense - shot through with women rising up from the margins of society to claim their own singular futures, I could not put this triumphant novel down' MARIE BENEDICT          `Heart-pounding, gasp-out-loud storytelling - The Phoenix Crown is the best book I've read all year' VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY          'Lushly detailed, richly imagined, and utterly satisfying, The Phoenix Crown will entrance readers' BOOKLIST          'Action-packed, this novel skillfully uses its strong female leads to examine racism, sexism, and classism. Readers won't want to put this one down' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY          '[A] seamless collaboration of two terrific novelists' THE WASHINGTON POST\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rye Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45466498891997,"sku":"9780008644543","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0064\/1368\/0730\/files\/9780008644543.jpg?v=1720112218","url":"https:\/\/ryebooks.co.uk\/products\/9780008644543","provider":"Rye Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}