The Phoenix Crown

An unforgettable story about the intertwined lives of two wronged women, spanning from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles…



San Francisco, 1906. In a city bustling with newly minted millionaires and scheming upstarts, two very different women hope to change their fortunes: Gemma, a golden-haired, silver-voiced soprano whose career desperately needs rekindling, and Suling, a petite and resolute Chinatown embroideress who is determined to escape an arranged marriage.


Their paths cross when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace.


His patronage offers Gemma and Suling the chance of a lifetime, but their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a mystery reaching further than anyone could have imagined . . .


Until the Phoenix Crown reappears five years later at a sumptuous Paris costume ball, drawing Gemma and Suling together in one last desperate quest for justice . . .



Praise for The Phoenix Crown:




‘Impeccably researched, magnificently rendered, and breathlessly paced’ JAMIE FORD




‘Seamless, page-turning masterpiece of history and suspense – shot through with women rising up from the margins of society to claim their own singular futures, I could not put this triumphant novel down’ MARIE BENEDICT



‘Heart-pounding, gasp-out-loud storytelling – The Phoenix Crown is the best book I’ve read all year’ VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY


'Lushly detailed, richly imagined, and utterly satisfying, The Phoenix Crown will entrance readers' BOOKLIST



'Action-packed, this novel skillfully uses its strong female leads to examine racism, sexism, and classism. Readers won't want to put this one down'
HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY




'[A] seamless collaboration of two terrific novelists'
THE WASHINGTON POST