Set in the 17th century, Edward Popple and his 14-year-old daughter Rosamund leave for a sea voyage "to collect rarities and find out wonders". As the only survivors of a mutiny, they are washed ashore on a tropical island. They are soon joined by a Chinese prince and his faithful eunuch.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
East and West meet on an undiscovered island in the Indian Ocean in this lush, fatalistic second novel (after The Avenue of Eternal Peace) from Jose, an Australian. Off the African coast, a shipwreck strands English horticulturist Edward Popple, his daughter, Rosamund, and a sailor. Unbeknownst to them, the island harbors other refugees: Taizao, a seemingly impotent exiled Chinese prince; Lou Lu, an elderly eunuch who serves as Taizao's guardian; and the crew of their Chinese ship. After some initial misunderstandings, the two groups join forces to try to escape the island. From the start, it's clear that this isn't a standard historical adventure. The prose is ripe, laden with a sense of the forbidden, and with doom. Popple craves his daughter, noting how, while on horseback, "hot rosy pulses from the riding flushed her skin." When Rosamund awakens the prince's sexuality, it's by urinating in front of him. And when the narrative darkens into suffering and tragedy, it's jarring but no surprise, like a thunderstorm at the end of a hot and humid day.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Two worlds meeting face to face in a small place is the thematic framework of a luminous historical novel by an obviously talented Australian. In mid-seventeenth-century England, the king has been beheaded and the puritanical Oliver Cromwell rules in his place. In these unsettled times, horticulturist Edward Popple finds it increasingly difficult to secure a living for his family; to that end, he takes on the assignment of ship doctor on a voyage of discovery sponsored by the Royal Society of Fellows. Edward's beloved daughter, toward whom he harbors an unnatural attraction, stows away. After a mutinous uprising, they find themselves ashore on an island in the Indian Ocean. Also waylaid on that forsaken place is the young pretender to the imperial throne of China and his chief eunuch, on their way to Rome to appeal to the pope for aid in restoring the prince to his rightful status. Eastern and Western cultures eye each other covetously: the Chinese want the Englishman's navigational savvy and his daughter as a consort for the prince, the Englishman wants the yellow rose the Chinese have carried with them to use in his horticultural experimentation. The smoothly shaped, historically authentic story supports characters perfectly evocative of their time yet meaningfully reverberant in ours. Brad Hooper
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Peculiar and odd but interesting,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Rose Crossing (Paperback)
This book takes a long time to get into (and it's not that long!). At first I was really turned off by a strange writing style: it doesn't flow; it seems unnatural; although not complex it requires time for interpretation. However, once the Chinese come into contact with the Europeans, the conflict is intensified and interest ignites. Then again at the end, too much denouement occurs too rapidly. But through all the strangeness, the reader is forced to think about the value of knowledge for its own sake. This novel should be made into a movie as it has great potential for great visual beauty.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
