A Hundred Suns, Karin Tanabe
A Hundred Suns, Karin Tanabe
5 Rating(s)
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A Hundred Suns
A Novel

Author: Karin Tanabe

Narrator: Angela Dawe, Emily Ellet

Unabridged: 13 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

"A haunting, evocative tale that left me both richly satisfied and deeply unsettled – yet another Tanabe triumph. Captivating, suspenseful, and full of surprises." —Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece

A faraway land.
A family’s dynasty.
A trail of secrets that could shatter their glamorous lifestyle.

On a humid afternoon in 1933, American Jessie Lesage steps off a boat from Paris and onto the shores of Vietnam. Accompanying her French husband Victor, an heir to the Michelin rubber fortune, she’s certain that their new life is full of promise, for while the rest of the world is sinking into economic depression, Indochine is gold for the Michelins. Jessie knows that the vast plantations near Saigon are the key to the family’s prosperity, and though they have recently been marred in scandal, she needs them to succeed for her husband’s sake—and to ensure that the life she left behind in America stays buried in the past.

Jessie dives into the glamorous colonial world, where money is king and morals are brushed aside, and meets Marcelle de Fabry, a spellbinding expat with a wealthy Indochinese lover, the silk tycoon Khoi Nguyen. Descending on Jessie’s world like a hurricane, Marcelle proves to be an exuberant guide to colonial life. But hidden beneath her vivacious exterior is a fierce desire to put the colony back in the hands of its people––starting with the Michelin plantations.

It doesn’t take long for the sun-drenched days and champagne-soaked nights to catch up with Jessie. With an increasingly fractured mind, her affection for Indochine falters. And as a fiery political struggle builds around her, Jessie begins to wonder what’s real in a friendship that she suspects may be nothing but a house of cards.

Motivated by love, driven by ambition, and seeking self-preservation at all costs, Jessie and Marcelle each toe the line between friend and foe, ethics and excess. Cast against the stylish backdrop of 1920s Paris and 1930s Indochine, in a time and place defined by contrasts and convictions, Karin Tanabe's A Hundred Suns is historical fiction at its lush, suspenseful best.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

“[A] stirring, elegant romance, richly drawn and complete with multidimensional characters.” - Publishers Weekly

“A HUNDRED SUNS has a cinematic quality...This view of French occupation in Indochina is replete with love affairs, revenge and secrets, not to mention a history lesson about the evils of colonialism.” - Washington Post

About Karin Tanabe

Karin Tanabe is the author of over half a dozen novels, including A Woman of Intelligence and The Gilded Years. A former Politico reporter, her writing has also appeared in The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and Newsday. She has appeared as a celebrity and politics expert on Entertainment Tonight, CNN, and CBS Early Show. Karin is a graduate of Vassar College and lives in Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bkwmlee

3.5 stars In 1933, Jessie Lesage accompanies her husband Victor to Indochine (Vietnam)— a colony under French rule at the time — where he has taken up a post overseeing his famous Michelin family’s rubber plantations. Not long after they arrive, the Lesages meet Marcelle de Fabry and her husband Arn......more

Goodreads review by Katie

3.5 stars I've always enjoyed reading historical fiction but one complaint I have is that most writers seem to stick to World War 2. I was so glad to see this author decided to branch out and set this novel in 1930s Indochine (Vietnam). Even though I've had a difficult time concentrating lately with......more

Goodreads review by Tammy

Frenemies, Jessie and Marcelle, narrate this tale of 1930’s Indochina. Both have made the similar journey from humble beginnings to lavish living by marrying well. Moving from Parisian student days to ex-pat living as pampered wealthy wives, one married into the Michelin family and the other married......more