4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Opium Lord's Daughter is Robert Wang's debut novel. As the title suggests, it follows Su-Mei, the daughter of Canton's most lucrative opium dealer. The book takes place during the First Opium War in the mid-nineteenth century. As was popular during that time, Su-Mei's father ordered her feet to be bound. However, Su-Mei consistently disobeyed him and angered him enough to send her to a convent in Macau. Su-Mei's father believed that having to live in a strict environment amongst "foreign devils" would teach his daughter a lesson, but his plan backfired and she was enthralled by the foreigners and the English language. She even met and fell in love with a British sailor just as the war came to a peak and British began to use force against the Chinese.
Su-Mei knows that her father is a bad man for continuing to sell a drug that creates so many addicts, but at the same time, the man she loves is from the country pushing said drug on the Chinese. In the midst of pressure from both sides, she struggles with her personal identity and what she should do next. She finds some personal happiness, but it is often washed away by never-ending tragedies. The stories of Su-Mei and those around her are hard to read at times because the First Opium War was a very real, devastating event that ruined so many lives. It is very, very obvious that Mr. Wang did his research for this novel as there is detail in every sentence. While that makes The Opium Lord's Daughter an engrossing read, it also makes some of the facts harder to stomach.
I am a fan of Asian history, and although I knew a little bit about the opium wars and the effect the drug had on Chinese society, I didn't know much about the British empire's role in things. Although I was mostly drawn to the romance and drama in the novel, I'm confident when I say that I learned a great deal. Mr. Wang did a wonderful job of feeding the reader background information and knowledge about the settings and politics without making the novel sound like a textbook. All the information was wrapped in a layer of literary fiction that almost made the reader forget that every bit of it was true. All of the characters were memorable and I liked all of them, even those I wouldn't be able to stand if I met them in real life.
The novel's editing and pacing were spectacular. I honestly have no complaints about the book at all. However, I should warn other readers that there are some gruesome and explicit scenes. Mr. Wang was obviously dedicated to painting a picture of the war as it was, not something glorified or oversimplified. There is also minor foul language, although it did not bother me at all.
The Opium Lord's Daughter is one of the best historical novels I have read in a long time. Mr. Wang faced a tremendously difficult subject head-on and did it justice. I have no qualms giving his debut novel 4 out of 4 stars and I look forward to what he will publish next. The book's description on Amazon says that the book is recommended for fans of Downton Abbey and Outlander, and I highly agree. The Opium Lord's Daughter is of the same quality as these shows and does a wonderful job of combining history and drama to create a fast-paced novel that is excruciatingly hard to put down.
******
The Opium Lord's Daughter
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
