This week, we're welcoming author Laura Rahme, whose latest title is The Ming Storytellers. Join us on Sunday, when Laura will offer a free paperback copy of the book to a lucky blog visitor. Here's the blurb:
A Persian traveller,
And a mysterious storyteller.
Three women: one story.
This is BEIJING. A city seething with mystery and royal intrigue.
Once a palace orphan, the wilful Min Li has only ever sought to please, even if that means pleasing Emperor Zhu Di. Now a powerful concubine, Min Li unearths a terrible secret concealed within the walls of Beijing's Imperial city. Driven to despair, she seeks help from her lover, Admiral Zheng He. But this will spark a chain of events that even sets Beijing's palace on fire. Min Li's fate is sealed but her true enemy is not who she thinks.
The Ming Storytellers is a historical tale of 15th century China that sweeps across the palaces of Nanjing and Beijing into the mountainous villages of Yunnan, where a mysterious shaman holds the key to a woman's destiny.
Across the oceans, from the bustling bazaars of Southern India to the lush shores of Zanzibar, nothing is quite what it seems.
For the eyes and ears of the Ming Emperor are ever near.
A tale of the far East replete with dark secrets, The Ming Storytellers is set during the early Ming Dynasty, soon after the reconquest of The Middle Kingdom from the Mongols.
The Ming Storytellers delves into the political and personal intrigues of the Zhu Imperial family. On the eve of the great Beijing Palace fire and the Ming fleet's sixth expedition, an imperial concubine is swept up by dark forces of obsession and revenge.
The Ming Storytellers is a must journey for historical travellers and for those who believe in the bridging between worlds.
It is the 15th Century. At the dawn of the Ming
Dynasty, three women's path will cross.
And of their journey, a tale will be born.
An imperial concubine,
An imperial concubine,
A Persian traveller,
And a mysterious storyteller.
Three women: one story.
This is BEIJING. A city seething with mystery and royal intrigue.
Once a palace orphan, the wilful Min Li has only ever sought to please, even if that means pleasing Emperor Zhu Di. Now a powerful concubine, Min Li unearths a terrible secret concealed within the walls of Beijing's Imperial city. Driven to despair, she seeks help from her lover, Admiral Zheng He. But this will spark a chain of events that even sets Beijing's palace on fire. Min Li's fate is sealed but her true enemy is not who she thinks.
The Ming Storytellers is a historical tale of 15th century China that sweeps across the palaces of Nanjing and Beijing into the mountainous villages of Yunnan, where a mysterious shaman holds the key to a woman's destiny.
Across the oceans, from the bustling bazaars of Southern India to the lush shores of Zanzibar, nothing is quite what it seems.
For the eyes and ears of the Ming Emperor are ever near.
A tale of the far East replete with dark secrets, The Ming Storytellers is set during the early Ming Dynasty, soon after the reconquest of The Middle Kingdom from the Mongols.
The Ming Storytellers delves into the political and personal intrigues of the Zhu Imperial family. On the eve of the great Beijing Palace fire and the Ming fleet's sixth expedition, an imperial concubine is swept up by dark forces of obsession and revenge.
The Ming Storytellers is a must journey for historical travellers and for those who believe in the bridging between worlds.
**An Excerpt from The Ming Storytellers**
The Royal Chamber - Chantefables
One would have thought that the
concubines would be highly influenced by Empress Ma’s verdict, so eager were
they to emulate virtuous conduct. On the contrary, the secret longing for
precious, forbidden literature and the thrill of finding one that had been
dissimulated into their room by a worldly, trusted eunuch, afforded the
concubines with a glimpse of the danger and adventure that their lives lacked.
Min Li met one such eunuch on a cold evening, soon after
dinner, while the younger concubines were gathered in the warmest chamber they
could find. She soon recognised him.
As he slinked in, unannounced, the girls quietened and sat
up. Some of them eyed each other, their mutual silences charged with
understanding. Intrigued by this, Min Li observed both the visitor and the
effect he had on the Royal Chamber.
He had entered, ever slowly, much like a snake among doves
as it searches for prey. His sharp eyes pierced through the large room, feeding
on every detail with a raw hunger. He watched the lazy limbs stretched out on
cushioned bunks and onto improvised couches. He watched the lotus feet barely
hidden beneath peach and azure silks. His quick gaze contoured the gentle
curves undulating beneath sheer and silken fabrics. They writhed before him,
those feminine forms, entwined as they were, among the cats, like the cats, to
keep warm. Like the many feline creatures he encountered, idling and stretching
in this infernal compound, there rose from these sprawled female forms, a titillating
sensuality that irked him savagely.
As he absorbed that sweet, musky odour rising from the room,
the man’s upper lip curled into a faint sneer. Min Li could not discern whether
the twitching on his lips betrayed repugnance or something else, something more
predatory. Given her earlier experience with this eunuch, her senses were
awakened by a warning that she could not explain but it sent a cold chill down
her back.
Now whispers rose around her. Ji Feng is here! It’s Ji Feng!
It was as though the women were all back in the selection hall and the Royal
Chamber director were tapping on his cane, vying for their attention. In this
case it worked. The concubines interrupted their idling and sat upright on
their knees, attentive to the visitor.
Ji Feng raised his head high, assessing whether all eyes
were on him and perhaps, intuited Min Li, as a show of his power. Still, that
unmistakable sneer remained on his lip as though he were afraid of being
contaminated by the occupants in the room but all the while enjoyed breathing
them in.
Xun Guifei shuffled towards him with apprehension. “You were
not to come until the next day,” she reproached quietly, looking behind the
door to ensure that no other eunuch lurked in the corridor.
“I, alone, choose when I come.”
“But you said—”
“Times are difficult. You should be pleased that I managed
to come at all,” hissed Ji Feng.
Xun Guifei said nothing then. She lowered her gaze
apologetically.
Up to now, Min Li had dismissed the rising tension in the
room. But as the Guifei’s gaze became resigned to the carpet, the young
concubine looked around only to see that all the other women were submissively
eyeing this Ji Feng. She couldn’t believe it. Here was the officer who months
earlier had tried to beat her in the Royal Chamber director’s bureau. Disgust
mounted inside her. Yet she reasoned that if she were to reveal him, her own
conduct would come to light. So she chose to remain silent.
At last, he slowly unfolded the bundle he held in his wiry
arms. With a glimmer in his eyes, he smiled, revealing a row of yellow-stained
teeth that further repulsed Min Li.
“The latest tales from the printing houses of Fujian,” he
began, presenting the first book for all to see. “What do you think, hmm?”
breathed Ji Feng, waiting for their response. “Ah, yes, and this one!" He
licked his lips. “This one is my favourite! Chantefables from the South!
Hmm?” His knotty fingers ran down the
book’s spine like a hideous caress.
Ji Feng fed on his audience’s wonder. A savage glow lit up
his pimply complexion and his eyes darted to every corner of the room,
savouring every beaming face.
And it was like a magic spell. Min Li watched the concubines
emit gasps and smile with glee. She watched them lick their lips, eager to
devour every page and be transported into worlds they would never see or
experience. Ji Feng had them captivated. And they paid him well. Each would
raise a little of their stipend and hand them over to Guifei Xun.
When he had received his due and made motion to retire, Ji
Feng’s eyes surveyed the room one last time and saw a figure he had not
previously noticed. Min Li returned his gaze, hinting that she was no longer
afraid of him and confident in their mutual understanding. She had remained to
the far corner of the room, her knees drawn up towards her chin, a kitten
resting on her warm lap, her eyes partly concealed behind a rebellious hair
strand.
She knew that her large feet had caught his eyes. She
responded by hiding them beneath her skirt, not out of shame but out of fury
that he had dared to regard her. Foreign to the ritualised delivery of
forbidden books, she showed little enthusiasm, remaining quietly in retreat
while the other concubines leapt to their feet and scrambled to take a look at
their three new treasures.
Ji Feng observed her, a calculated smile etched on his face.
“This is Min Li,” explained Xun Guifei. "One of our new
girls this month...Min Li, come and say hello to Ji Feng.”
“Come and see what Ji Feng has brought for us,” cheered one
of the concubines.
Min Li did not budge. She feigned somnolence, closing her
eyes to wish the man away.
“Ah, she is too shy,” lied Mei Guifei in Min Li’s favour.
"Min Li...Where are your manners?"
As though he accepted the Guifei’s apology, Ji Feng tilted
his narrow head with a mixture of feigned lenience and damaged pride. But Min
Li saw through his charade. In the last glance he shot at her, she sensed his
raging resentment.
Novel Links:
Official Website – http://www.themingstorytellers.com
The Ming Storytellers on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/themingstorytellers
Digital editions available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble
, iTunes and Lulu
Paperback available on Amazon
Author Links:
You can find Laura Rahme on Twitter, Goodreads,
Pinterest and Amazon.
Or visit her blog, Teranga
and Sun
