Maureen's Reviews > The Phoenix Crown

This book is co-authored by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. I have previously read many of Kate Quinn’s book but have not read any of Janie Changs It is a captivating story of four women’s lives before the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 and after
This novel starts with a countdown in days before the earthquake.
The beginning was very slow to me but got better as you got to know the characters.
We meet four female characters who are as different as night and day. Gemma an opera singer Suling, an embroiderer living in Chinatown. Reggie (Nellie) a painter and Alice a botanist.
Henry Thornton owns a spectacular collection of Chinese antiques including the Phoenix Crown. He is a railroad tycoon who offers Gemma and Suling a deal of a lifetime. The Earthquake hits and San Francisco is on fire.
San Francisco was portrayed vividly by the authors. You felt sense of the time and place, both in Nob Hill and Chinatown. The descriptions of the earthquake were devastating.
This book was very well researched, there are authors notes at the end of the book explaining how they came to write this book.
It was an enjoyable read, but not my favorite.