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Description
A Peking love story first published in 1935, The Maker of Heavenly Trousers tells the story of an unnamed foreign bachelor who lives in a courtyard dwelling alone but for the Five Virtues, the nickname for a family of mischievous Chinese servants who run his household as they please. It is they who take pity on their neighbour, Kuniang (literally, 'young girl'), whose father is rarely in Peking, inviting her to come and join them in their master's home. Independent and free-spirited, Kuniang show more is swept into a life of excitement, fleeting friendships and family. She encounters eccentrics, millionaires and a shadowy former mistress of Rasputin, gains many admirers and slowly she captures the heart of her guardian as well. But when Kuniang is unwittingly pulled into a strange and dark Eastern hypnosis a terrifying vision threatens their prospects and their charmed and charming world very nearly comes crashing down around them. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Charming, evocative tale of love in China; a foreign journalist/author living in Peking during WW1 looks after a homeless young Italian girl and as she grows up he falls in love with her. Brilliantly captures the strange flotsam and jetsam of westerners who drift in and out of China at that time, and the exotic cast of character's includes one of Rasputin's mistresses, and a Mongolian prince who has become a Buddhist Abbot. Daily life in Peking is shown with its amazing combination of squalour and luxury. A really delightful read
Simple yet brilliantly evocative tale
I liked the cover design and the title; that's why I bought it for 99p in Tetbury. I have no intention whatsoever of reading the contents. It also had a 1948 piece of ephemera inside it - a General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Limited brochure.
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Author Information
22 Works 259 Members
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
rororo (0098)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The maker of heavenly trousers
- Original title
- The maker of heavenly trousers
- Original publication date
- 1935
- Important places
- China
- First words*
- Vorwort: Eigentlich hatte Kuniang den Einfall, ich solle dieses Buch schreiben.
Gesellschaftliche Stellung ist eine heikle Sache und ruht zuweilen auf seltsamen Grundlagen. - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Aber ernst antwortete er: "Jawohl, Missy. Wird besorgt."
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ3 .V399 .M — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 90
- Popularity
- 357,041
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.66)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 11
