I believe this book is a contiuation of "The Snow Leopard of Shanghai". It is about a young girl growing up as the daughter of a counsel general. She travels from South Africa, to Paris, to England, to Switzerland, to Hong Kong. It was hard to put down. Now, I would like to read the Leopard of Shanghai.

I loved this book. I would recommend this to anyone with a aching for something to read that will keep them awake. An awesome book for a mature reader.

I gave this book four stars because it is very engrossing. It's the kind of book you will find yourself immersed in. The sexual antics described in this book may seem almost unreal and merely for shock value, but it leads one to wonder: what really goes on in the bedrooms of so-called 'normal' folk?

Pizzey seems to know perfectly how to express the plight of a woman. Her characters are the embodiment of the tortured human soul, and seem to remind you of people you've known. Think brain candy with heart.

I had picked this up in an odd section of the book store and it seemed like an odd book to begin with. However, as cliched as it might be, as soon as I opened the book, I couldn't put it down. Pizzey is one of my favorite authors because of this book. What she writes about the relationship between people, especially mothers, is very painful but truthful simultaneously. I liked how she had this transformation of the protagonist with bits of reality such as her lovers taking off. In other novels, there is no such event happening and I especially adored the wisecracking Anne and Claire, the sidekicks of the novel. I reocmmend this novel to all people because what it actually has is the basic truth to all relaitonships. The End.

Erin Pizzey's writing style is intelligent and enjoyable. I was taken by surprise, though, by the mysticism or supernatural content in this story. It is WAY out of the ordinary and, I would even say "fanciful." At the same time, the story addresses experiences common to many women. Although I personally liked the mystical tone of the story, when I read Ms. Pizzey's book "Swimming With Dolphins," I found it to be "psychological" and not "mystical." In both books, I would describe her writing style as "intense." I like Erin Pizzey's work and will read more of it.

I really enjoyed this book. Pizzey's characters are easy to get involved with - the story is different and kept me interested all the way through. This is not a mushy love story - the love interests are very realistic and easy to identify with. I have recommended this to friends, which I don't always do.

I first read the Consul General's Daughter which is the continuation of this book. I was dissapointed, however, with the way this book turned out. The book starts out wonderfully and if it stopped half way through it would have been wonderful. The books continues, though, and completly turns around half way through. Insane things begin to happen that make no sense what-so-ever. I would recommend this book to anyone, if you stop half way through.

This is the kind of book you can pick up at 4/$1.00 in bins outside old bookstores and take on planes, trains and buses to pass the time. The author did live in Shanghai in her youth, presumably of Russian descent. So the portrayal of the upper class life, as portrayed in the story of two priviledged twins who escaped the wrath of the workers/peasants in 1917, is well done. But so many pages are simply scribbled as a bodice-ripping filler, between the interesting historical and sociological observations. The extreme class differences in Russia and China, the great restrictions on the women in their social lives, the dangers of the opium trade, the desperate people who became prostitutes, pimps and waiters when they got out of Russia penniless: all of these motley characters are thrown together into an interesting borscht-boiling stewpot.

Yes, at the bin price, you can afford to read it through a rainy night, then return it with complaints and get a refund. ...