THE HIDDEN BLADE
The Heart of Blade Duology, Book One
260 pages
Available Now
------------------------------
In the waning days of the last dynasty, in a quiet, beautiful corner of imperial Peking, a young girl's blissful ignorance is shattered when she learns that she is the illegitimate daughter of an English adventurer and a Chinese courtesan. What future is there for such a girl? But a mysterious figure steps forward and offers to instruct her in the highest forms of martial arts--a path to a life of strength and independence.Half a world away in England, a young boy's idyllic summer on the Sussex downs implodes with the firing of a single bullet. Torn from his family, he becomes the hostage of a urbanely sadistic uncle. He dreams of escaping to find his beloved friend--but the friend is in China, ten thousand miles away.
The girl trains to be deadly. The boy flees across continents. They do not know it yet, but their lives are already inextricably bound together, and will collide one fateful night when they least expect it.
'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' meets 'Downton Abbey,' this remarkable tale of friendship, danger, and coming of age will stay with you long after you have finished the last page.
A prequel to MY BEAUTIFUL ENEMY.
My review:
This novel length novella and prequel to My Beautiful Enemy and is a lushly detailed gem. Detailing the backstory for characters Ying-ying and Leighton it creates incredible momentum and desire for readers to immediately need to continue with My Beautiful Enemy. It weaves this incredible story of Leighton in England crossing wits with a cruel uncle set on controlling him, and Ying-ying in Peking secretly training as a martial artist. I cannot wait to get the two characters on the same page and see how this backstory colors their actions and reactions to one an other. Sherry Thomas has delivered another incredible couple, story, making it as Epic as I was hoping for.
