J
Janie Chang
Phoenix Crown
Synopsis
The Phoenix Crown, a collaborative historical novel by Janie Chang and Kate Quinn, follows two very different women whose fates become entangled in the year before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Gemma Garland is an opera soprano hoping to revive a faltering career; Suling Feng is a Chinatown embroideress determined to escape an arranged marriage. Both are drawn into the world of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate and collector of Chinese antiques whose prize possession is the fabled Phoenix Crown, a relic said to trace back to Beijing's Summer Palace.
When the earthquake and the fires that follow tear the city apart, Thornton disappears — and so does the crown. Five years later, the crown resurfaces at a lavish costume ball at Versailles, drawing Gemma and Suling back together to uncover what happened and pursue long-delayed justice. The novel moves between the boomtown chaos of turn-of-the-century San Francisco and the opulence of the French court, with a supporting cast that includes real historical figures alongside its invented ones.
Genres
Frequently asked questions
Is this book based on real historical events?
The narrative draws inspiration from the actual 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent destruction of the city's Chinatown, incorporating the historical reality of the period's art collecting and social hierarchies.
How do the authors collaborate on this novel?
Janie Chang and Kate Quinn utilized a collaborative writing process where they traded chapters back and forth to weave together the distinct perspectives of their two protagonists.