My Big Summer Read

Thank you Random House for this gifted book.

💬𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 “𝐛𝐢𝐠” 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝? 𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫?

Each summer I pick a book as my “big” summer read. It’s a book that I know will capture my attention and emotions. This year my big summer read is Edward Rutherfurd’s new book, China. I’ve loved all his other epic stories, and I even included my favorite, The Princes of Ireland, in the picture.

The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows Chinese history through Mao's Cultural Revolution and up to the present day. Rutherfurd chronicles the rising and falling fortunes of members of Chinese, British, and American families, as they negotiate the tides of history. Along the way, in his signature style, Rutherfurd provides a deeply researched portrait of Chinese history and society, its ancient traditions and great upheavals, and China's emergence as a rising global power. As always, we are treated to romance and adventure, heroines and scoundrels, grinding struggle and incredible fortunes.

China: The Novel brings to life the rich terrain of this vast and constantly evolving country. From Shanghai to Nanking to the Great Wall, Rutherfurd chronicles the turbulent rise and fall of empires as the colonial West meets the opulent and complex East in a dramatic struggle between cultures and people.

Extraordinarily researched and majestically told, Rutherfurd paints a thrilling portrait of one of the most singular and remarkable countries in the world.