The Nine Fold Heaven

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By Mingmei Yip

Publisher Description

""A unique and enthralling style. . .flawless." --Baltimore Books Examiner

In this mesmerizing new novel, Mingmei Yip draws readers deeper into the exotic world of 1930s Shanghai first explored in Skeleton Women, and into the lives of the unforgettable Camilla, Shadow, and Rainbow Chang.

When Shadow, a gifted, ambitious magician, competed with the beautiful Camilla for the affections of organized crime leader Master Lung, she almost lost everything. Hiding out in Hong Kong, performing in a run-down circus, Shadow has no idea that Camilla, too, is on the run with her lover, Jinying--Lung's son.

Yet while Camilla and Shadow were once enemies, now their only hope of freedom lies in joining forces to eliminate the ruthless Big Brother Wang. Despite the danger, Shadow, Camilla, and Jinying return to Shanghai. Camilla also has her own secret agenda--she has heard a rumor that her son is alive. And in a city teeming with spies and rivals--including the vengeful Rainbow Chang--each battles for a future in a country on the verge of monumental change.

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6 Reviews

4.0

ReddDemon8274

Created 11 months ago

Christine Duperron

Created about 3 years ago

Pam Levin

Created about 11 years ago

“I loved, loved, loved Skeleton Women and this was just an average sequel. The writing seemed elementary and the story not quite as exotic or complex n”

Megan Wessell

Created over 11 years ago

“"The Nine Fold Heaven" is a historical fiction novel that takes place in exotic 1930s Shanghai. This book is a follow on to Yip's "Skeleton Women," which I have not had a chance to read. For the most part, "The Nine Fold Heaven" can be read as a stand-alone novel. It did make me want to go back and read "Skeleton Women" though to get a little more insight into the backgrounds of the characters, especially Camilla, who narrates this story. You do get enough detail in "The Nine Fold Heaven" to understand what's going on in the story though so reading "Skeleton Women" is only a nice-to-have and not a necessary. Oh, I really enjoyed this book. In this book, Camilla has run away from Shanghai only to return to find the son that she gave up. It's dangerous for her to be in the city since all of the city seems to be under the extremely watchful (and dangerous) eyes of Rainbow, the gossip columnist. I really liked Camilla. She's an incredibly strong character. She also has a really good heart. I loved following her adventure in this book. Because this book is the second installment of her story, there wasn't a lot of build up of her character, which left me wanting more. I loved, loved, loved the setting of the book. I love armchair traveling and I thought that the author gave you a really good sense of what Shanghai must have been like in the 1930s with its dark underbelly filled with gangsters and gamblers. It was absolutely fascinating. I love when books take me to some place that I'm not familiar with. This setting also made me want to go back and read "Skeleton Women" so I could get more of this place. Also, in general, I've found it more difficult to find historical fiction set in Asia than in places like Europe so I'm always very excited when I do find something! The writing of this book was great. I loved that the story was told from Camilla's point of view. So much of what she is thinking or feeling throughout the book is so important in the story. Yip did a great job of really making Camilla come to life for me in this book. The writing made me want to go back and not only read "Skeleton Women" but to also go back and read some of Yip's other books. Overall, exotic locales and interesting characters make this book a great hist-fic pick!”

Kgibbs

Created over 11 years ago

“From Goodreads: In this mesmerizing new novel, Mingmei Yip draws readers deeper into the exotic world of 1930s Shanghai first explored in Skeleton Women, and into the lives of the unforgettable Camilla, Shadow, and Rainbow Chang. When Shadow, a gifted, ambitious magician, competed with the beautiful Camilla for the affections of organized crime leader Master Lung, she almost lost everything. Hiding out in Hong Kong, performing in a run-down circus, Shadow has no idea that Camilla, too, is on the run with her lover, Jinying–Lung’s son. Yet while Camilla and Shadow were once enemies, now their only hope of freedom lies in joining forces to eliminate the ruthless Big Brother Wang. Despite the danger, Shadow, Camilla, and Jinying return to Shanghai. Camilla also has her own secret agenda–she has heard a rumor that her son is alive. And in a city teeming with spies and rivals–including the vengeful Rainbow Chang–each battles for a future in a country on the verge of monumental change. My Thoughts: I didn’t realize when I started this book that it was the sequel to Skeleton Women. I must have overlooked that when I originally read the description. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to spend some more time with Camilla. I liked Skeleton Women, but I loved The Nine Fold Heaven. Camilla picks up where she left off in Skeleton Women, starting over after a brutal and vicious battle between gangs. But there’s a lot that is left undone. She has a feeling her young son may not be dead as she was told, and she can’t help but wonder the fate of her love, Jinying. It’s an incredible journey through the 1930s in Shanghai, a time and place I’d never thought I’d be interested in reading about, but Yip has got me hooked. I love that Shadow and Rainbow Chang and Gao make appearances in this book. They were all characters that I became fond of in Skeleton Women and I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to them. And we have a couple of new characters, including a young nearly blind girl who absolutely stole my heart. The Nine Fold Heaven is magical, but also takes us to the darkest parts of Shanghai in the 1930s. It’s a time and place that has the highest highs and the lowest lows. You experience the violence of the gangs, the magic of the performers, the superstitions of the Chinese culture. It is all so intoxicating. Yip has some wonderful words of wisdom in this book. There are several memorable and wise sayings. It’s better to be silently seen than loudly talked about. After one look at the loftiest mountain, all the other hills look flat. Absolutely love those! Yip really knocked it out of the park with the follow up to Skeleton Women. I give The Nine Fold Heaven 5 out of 5 bookmarks.”

About Mingmei Yip

Mingmei Yip was born in China and received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. She has written for major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on many national and international television and radio programs. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City with her husband. Her novels have been published in ten different languages and she is also an accomplished musician and calligrapher. Visit her at www.mingmeiyip.com.