Title: “The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel”
Author: Maureen Lindley
Format: Papberack
Number of Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-1596917033
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Date of Publication: September 1, 2009
2 stars: Falls short of expectations
I wanted to like this book. The title is catchy, the cover art looks great. But the subject matter just didn’t work. Eastern Jewel is a Chinese princess who ends up being sent to a Japanese family. Eastern Jewel quickly learns to love all things Japanese and to be blunt, has sex with anything that moves.
I found the main character to be repulsive. She essentially did nothing with her life, except have sex. While one could argue that she did as she pleased, I still was turned off by it. There were mentions of several ‘relationships’ that she was in, but they were certainly not healthy relationships.
The redeeming factors of this novel…. there were some brilliant descriptions. The author does have a gift with words. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that was not enough to save this book. I recently read a review saying that this was a poor imitation of “Memoirs of a Geisha”. It certainly does pale in comparison.
Missed my last review? It was QUICK REVIEW: “ALEXANDER & ALESTRIA” BY SHAN SA
Well darn, I had high hopes for this one too.
Blegh. I got this in the Early Reviewer program I should probably just read it and get it over with.
I’m glad I only spent 50p on this one. I think I will give it a try and give it right back to the charity shop if it’s as bad as predicted. Everyone is panning it, and I thought it sounded good too. =(
Oh my, that sounds pretty dreadful. Anything that moves huh? {{Watch out Bandit!!}}
A shame…I guess it is true that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, because it is a very nice cover.
Ouch. Sorry it didn’t work out. I’ve read mixed reviews elsewhere in the blogs so you’re not the only one.
I’m so glad I didn’t get this in Early Reviewers! I am attracted to the title and cover of this. But your reviews I trust without question.
I wish I had time to read for fun! I hate when I start a book and it starts to go down a crappy road but you REALLY want to like the book and finish it, but you can’t :o(
[…] Missed my last post? It was: REVIEW: “THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF EASTERN JEWEL” BY MAUREEN LINDLEY […]
That’s such a shame – I was intrigued by this because I’m trying to branch out my historical reading from all Europe all the time :). And I was definitely intrigued by the title and cover – it’s a pity that the content doesn’t match.