The latest book from author Mingmei Yip takes the reader on an epic journey — both emotional and geographically. The Nine Fold Heaven is the story of a young Chinese woman, Camilla who is taken from an orphanage at the age of four, and forced to work for one of the worst gangs in Shanghai. Not that she has a bad life with them. In exchange for her various “services” to the gang, from sexual favors to singing entertainment to assassinations, she is well taken care of, as least in material objects. Her emotional life however, has been completely deprived and suffocated.
Camilla’s emotions refused to be suppressed, and love finds a way through the darkness. After taking a lover she gives birth to a son, and the small seed of emotion, feelings and love that had sprouted were now in full bloom. She escapes her “gilded cage” only to return and fight for her child.
The journey she takes will leave the reader breathless, in tears, and cheering her on. Camilla will do whatever is necessary to free her child from the world she escaped, even forming an alliance with the enemy.
The Nine Fold Heaven will also take the reader to some of the darkest areas in the Asian world. Unlocking places foreigners never see or even know exist. The Nine Fold Heaven is written from Chinese perspective, giving non-Asian readers an entirely new experience as to how they are perceived by the ancient Chinese culture.
Told in first-person it allows the reader to delve deeper in the character, deeper into the dark world most of us miss. A thoroughly intriguing and provoking read.
