Once this got past the overly long set up section, it was a pretty good read. The parts in England tended to drag a bit and there seemed to be plenty of red herrings in that section but it picked up when the action moved to Hong Kong. There were plenty of cringy stereotypes of Chinese culture and the final mystery wrap up seemed a hodgepodge of what Westerners think of China. I felt like she built up a whole mysterious set of things and then couldn't find a good way out. When it finally got explained out, there were still pieces that made no sense. The interplay of the three brothers and the cousins got very confusing and I mostly felt very sorry for poor Sylvester, who seemed the best of them all and got very short shrift. I was also somewhat surprised that a Victoria Holt novel made the "passion" of Jane and Joliffe such a main point. It was written in the 70s so perhaps she needed to move with times. Or maybe it was just that I found Joliffe such an unworthy hero. At least she has him admit he is shallow and cowardly. Doesn't make him much better but at least he says it.

I like the contrasts between the English and Chinese settings. The author does a good job of bringing both these countries to life during the 1860s.

Of the characters I like Jane, who’s the narrating character and heroine of the piece. Mrs Couch is amusing, as is little Jason, Jane’s son. Joliffe, Adam, and Toby are all engaging, each impacting Jane’s life in their own way.

One thing that annoyed me for the first quarter/third of the novel was the repetition of a character’s full name and title, namely Mr. Sylvester Milner. It just keeps cropping up, very rarely abbreviated, until later on. This soon grew irritating, sounding unnatural and silly. The quote below is an example:

>“The sooner you begin with Mr. Sylvester Milner the better,” she said. But Mr. Sylvester Milner thought I should complete my education and it was not until I came home for the summer term in July that I left school for ever. I was still only seventeen and would be eighteen in the following September. My duties with Mr. Sylvester Milner had begun. ( )

I got into these during my middle years of high school working at the public library. They were fun and read fast. ( )

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