The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao
The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

The Majesties

Author: Tiffany Tsao

Narrator: Nancy Wu

Unabridged: 9 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/21/2020


Synopsis

In this “bold and dramatic portrayal of characters on the cusp of an impossible choice” (Publishers Weekly), two sisters from a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family grapple with secrets and betrayal after one of them poisons their entire family.

Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan.

As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this shocking act. Was it their aunt’s mysterious death at sea? Estella’s unhappy marriage to a dangerously brutish man? Or were the shifting loyalties and unspoken resentments at the heart of their opulent world too much to bear? Can Gwendolyn, at last, confront the carefully buried mysteries in their family’s past and the truth about who she and her sister really are?

Traveling from the luxurious world of the rich and powerful in Indonesia to the most spectacular shows at Paris Fashion Week, from the sunny coasts of California to the melting pot of Melbourne’s university scene, The Majesties “is a thrilling, tender page-turner” (Krys Lee, author of Drifting House) as well as “a sobering look at the dark side of extreme wealth” (Kirkus Reviews).

About Tiffany Tsao

Tiffany Tsao was born in San Diego, California, and lived in Singapore and Indonesia during her childhood and young adulthood. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a PhD in English. In addition to writing, she translates Indonesian fiction and poetry.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Felicia

Go read the description for this book. Just bear with me here... go on. I'll wait. *insert final Jeopardy theme music* Sounds dramatic, mysterious, thrilling even. I mean it says "riveting and disquieting thriller" right there! I'll take 'What is not even close? for $800, Alex'. This book doesn't know wh......more

This novel is described as a thriller in the lines of Crazy Rich Asians as if it had been written by Gillian Flynn. It was more of a family drama where the main character opens the story by waking up in the hospital, 300 hundred members of her family have been fatally poisoned, including children. N......more

2.5 rounded up. Part of me thinks I’m being generous, but then I don’t know. Telling you what I think about this book will be very challenging. You will get a different answer every time. I haven't read Crazy Rich Asians, but from other reviews I've read - that characterization missed the mark. I wo......more

Synopsis Gwendolyn wakes - deeply injured and blinded - in a hospital bed. The sole survivor of a poisoning that has claimed the lives of her entire family. Her sister, closest confidant and best friend in the world, was responsible for killing their entire bloodline. Dying, paralyzed, and unable to......more


Quotes

"Nancy Wu uses an arch, knowing tone to narrate this family saga steeped in drama and danger. Gwendolyn and Estella are the spoiled sisters of an upper-class Asian family who must confront past secrets if they hope to survive. Wu perfectly captures the sisters' privileged existence in Indonesia. We are taken into a world of luxury and jealousy, of competition between families and among their members. Wu carries us along the unfolding tension as Estella turns on everyone—including Gwendolyn. Keeping us hanging onto every word, Wu makes us eager to find out what happens next. Well paced by an expert narrator, this roller-coaster story intrigues and entertains."