A novel set in China in the 1920s about Siu Sing, the daughter of a Chinese mother and the foreign devil ship's captain who rescued her from death. Raised until the age of twelve by an elderly Taoist sage who is master of the White Crane and trained as one of his last disciples, she is sold into slavery after he's assassinated. After spending her teenage years in an opium den, she begins a quest to find Ben Deverill, the father she never knew, and to reclaim her birthright.

This book is split across two women: Li-Xia, who works her way from being the unwanted daughter of a wealthy man's concubine to the wife of one of the richest Eurasian men in Hong Kong, follwoed by her daughter - the "Red Lotus" of the title.

Whilst parts of it were good, there was little tension or much to fear from the apparent enemies of women, despite Ben's apparent wealth and the hatred of mixed marriages etc all around them. Even the tension between Red Lotus and her "enemy" could have been a little stronger. One of her more minor enemies seems easily brought off with money and some implied blackmail, and is never heard from again - all secondary characters seem to easily disappear and be forgotten throughout the book.

The above could give the impression this is a bad book - it's not, just not a great book. ( )

This story follows the lives of the women in one family over three generations. The story begins with the gruesome death of Pai-Ling as she witnesses her husbands attempt to murder her newborn daughter . We learn that this would be the fifth daughter that he has buried over thirty years. A practice common in China at this time as girls were considered an expensive liability. Those fortunate enough to survive were treated as servants until the age of six or eight years, when they were sold to become slaves, prostitutes or concubines.
Li Xia, through the intercession of a silver fox is not dispensed with and hence suffers the fate of being sold.
She becomes a young woman of strength, determination and intelligence, outwitting her protagonists many times.
In the last section of the book we are introduced to her daughter, Siu Sing who endeavours to discover the mystery of her parentage and reclaim her rightful inheritance, settling old scores along the way.
The author shows us a culture steeped in both spititualism and superstition, where treachery and corruption abound.
The plot is somewhat predictable, but appears well researched, emphasising the male dominated society that China was in the Twentieth century. ( )

loved this book, easy to read, both captivating and interesting, highlighting poignantly the vast cultural differences brtween east and west ( )