Alexandra Curry

Book Review: The Courtesan by Alexandra Curry
Released Sep 8 2015 by Dutton
In 1881, seven-year-old Jinhua has enjoyed a fairly good life. Her father has refused to have her feet bound and has shown her nothing but love. Then he displeases the emperor and is beheaded.
Jinhua's wife is not interested in caring for the daughter of her husband's mistress and sells the girl for a handful of silver coins. Jinhua ends up in a brothel where she is taught the "bed business" with poses like Fishes Eye to Eye, White Tiger Pouncing, and Silkworms Tenderly Entwined. But there is little tender about bed business, as she discovers when she is given to her first client at the age of twelve.
She is told repeatedly that her life is not her own. When she is bought again by a man who thinks she is the reincarnation of his former mistress, she accompanies him on his ambassadorial trips to the West.
I had such hopes for this novel. I requested an ARC from the publisher because the synopsis described a woman’s journey from culture to culture and eventually to herself. Although she does eventually lead her own life, she does so by returning to the brothel after the owner dies and the business passes on to her best friend. There she is raped during the Boxer revolution, her friend is also violated, and her friend gives up her life to save Jinhua’s. So she doesn’t really ever own her own life.
This I could have lived with if the writing had been stronger. The publisher described a fairytale like prose that promised a depth that rewarded a careful reader…exactly the kind of thing I enjoy, and exactly the kind of prose that can fit exceptionally well with historical fiction.
But here the execution is weak. The prose is too spare, and the details tend to be repeated. The repetition does not highlight symbolic or important elements, so it comes off as a weakness in the author’s research.
I’m begrudgingly rating this at 3 stars because, although I would normally rank this as a 2 or 2.5, I recognize that a number of readers will enjoy this a great deal. Just be aware of the flaws before you spend time with this work.
3 begrudging stars.
… (mere)

There are many fine reviews that tackle the specifics of the story. I have chosen to craft my review from a different perspective.

I want to provide information about the author and her background and introduce some facts about the real Jinhua to enhance the reading experience for others.

For more information visit my books reviews in my blog at https://itzeyblog.wordpress.com

Author Information
Alexandra Curry is as fascinating as the characters in her debut novel, The Courtesan. She was born in Canada to Austrian and British parents and spent most of her formative years in Southeast Asia. She has lived in Europe, Canada and the United States. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, served as Director of Finance at Cambridge Professional Group, and AVP at Chase Manhattan Bank. Ms. Curry is married and currently living in Atlanta. She lists her current occupation as novelist.

Review
As courtesans in Chinese history, and Jinhua in particular, are unknown to the American reader I looked into her biography before I began reading the book. I found learning about Jinhua in real life better prepared me for the fictionalized story. There are traces of Jinhua in photographs, her face revealing nothing but haunting empty eyes.

With those black and white still images in my mind, I found that Curry brought Jinhua to life. The physical scenes were almost too "real" to handle; they assaulted my mind's eye. The language directed at her was so coarse, abusive and vile that I felt sickened by the thought that this was reality for little girls in 19th century and still is for many in our 21st century world today.

Readers of Memoirs of a Geisha have been exposed to the exploitation of women and the sex trade but the descriptions of life in a Chinese brothel are so hideous as to seem unbelievable. It was striking to me that Jinhua's childhood coincided with my grandmother's childhood; worlds apart in much more than geography.

On a personal note, I read this book recuperating from ankle surgery. The painful passages about the foot binding hit a little too close to home and I will admit to a shedding a few tears.

Despite living in a vacuum void of respect and dignity let alone love and affection, Jinhua never loses a positive sense of self, innate curiosity or hope that the future will be better. She survived such unimaginable horrors over and over; it is a wonder she didn't succumb to the fate of so many unable to live in this wretched life any longer. At least that is how Curry decided to write her story. One is left to wonder if she ever truly experienced joy, happiness or peace in reality.

The glimpses into imperialism, the Boxer Rebellion and the emergence of West influence on Chinese life were not deeply covered but did provide a comfortable backdrop to the heart of this book...Jinhua's poignant life story.
Curry has done her best to create a plausible story for this lost soul who has been subject of conjecture and hyperbole for decades. It should be remembered that this is a work of fiction and the author has taken the literary license to conflate her life and in doing so has gaps in time that leave the story a bit confusing. It would have been interesting to have created a trilogy of her life in three separate books; happy childhood, orphan sold to the sex trade, and adult. Greater depth on social conditions and the changes in the world could have been better developed.

Overall I found the book a very worthy read. The first half of the book captured my attention. The second half seemed to flow less smoothly.

Curry writing style is as one reviewer wrote "almost lyrical". I look forward to reading to her second book!

I want to thank Netgalley and Edelweiss for both providing with advance e-reader copies of this book in exchange for an honest review.
… (mere)