Publishers Weekly
01/06/2020
Tanabe (The Gilded Years) transports readers to the beauty and danger of 1930s Indochina in this stirring, elegant romance. American-born Jessie Lesage leaves Paris with her French husband, Victor, and their daughter, Lucie, in 1933 so that Victor, whose family owns the Michelin tire company, can oversee his family’s rubber plantations in Phu Rieng, Cochinchina. Once Jessie arrives in Hanoi, she meets Marcelle de Fabry, the wife of Arnaud de Fabry, a successful Hanoi financier. Marcelle introduces Jessie to the excesses of the colony, inviting Jessie onto a sailboat belonging to her lover, Khoi Nguyen, a silk scion and Communist sympathizer. After Jessie meets Hugh “Red” Redvers, a handsome British man working to expand the railroad in Indochina, Red gives her opium and encourages her to visit the rubber plantations to witness the conditions faced by the workers, which she had yet to see firsthand. As she tries to reconcile love for her husband with her newfound outrage at his industry’s abuses, her emotional torment and opium use lead to hallucinations. Tanabe’s richly drawn novel is complete with multidimensional characters who gradually reveal their secrets, leading Jessie to discover that her frequent bouts of confusion are not only caused by opium. Fans of historical fiction will be enthralled. Agent: Bridget Matzie, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Karin Tanabe:
"Tanabe is a master of historical fiction." ––NPR
"Riveting...Tanabe pulls the reader in from page one, painting a lush, vibrant paradise with a dark side, and taking us along on a fast-paced, exquisitely layered, beautifully detailed ride to the end." ––Kristin Harmel, international bestselling author of The Room on Rue Amelie and The Winemaker's Wife
"A Hundred Suns has a cinematic quality...This view of French occupation in Indochina is replete with love affairs, revenge and secrets, not to mention a history lesson about the evils of colonialism.” — Washington Post
"A luscious setting combined with a sinister, sizzling plot." — EW
"Tanabe reveals secrets in exquisitely paced steps...A smart, riveting psychological thriller."— Kirkus
"An impeccably researched historical novel that immerses readers completely in a beautiful and haunting place" —PopSugar
"Richly drawn...Tanabe transports readers to the beauty and danger of 1930s Indochina in this stirring, elegant romance...complete with multidimensional characters who gradually reveal their secrets. Fans of historical fiction will be enthralled."– Publishers Weekly
"Stylish, with a dash of noir and heaps of the exotic and elegant setting, A Hundred Suns flips the script of bored society ladies into something altogether more devious and delicious." – Booklist
“This psychological thriller is as twisty and darkly detailed as they come...Tanabe’s attention to historical detail and expert pacing of revelation make this a must-read.” — BookBub
"A lush and glamorous tale of intrigue and romance in 1930's Indochine." ––CrimeReads
"Riveting" ––Historical Novel Society
"This is beautifully written, historical fiction that includes some romance as well as a mystery/thriller twist — a trifecta."— Columbus Magazine
"A haunting, evocative tale that left me both richly satisfied and deeply unsettled – yet another Tanabe triumph. Captivating, suspenseful, and full of surprises." —Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece
"A Hundred Suns manages the near impossible: it's both a gripping, relevant page turner, and a searing historical examination—in this case, of the brutal atrocities of colonialism. You'll read, as I did, to find out who will win the game of cat and mouse, even as you come to understand that in Indochine in the 1930's—as it is anywhere that one group of people enslaves another—there was no 'winning.' " - Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and June
MAY 2020 - AudioFile
Tanabe’s sweeping historical fiction is set in 1930s Indochine (today’s Vietnam) as the French colony deals with growing unrest. Angela Dawe and Emily Ellet are up to the challenge of narrating the story. They give believable voices to the two main characters, Jessie and Marcelle, and to a large cast of French and Asian characters. American Jessie has worked hard to hide her poor, rural Virginia past and re-create herself. Dawe does a good job of burying her accent except on the rare occasions when she revisits her unhappy childhood in her mind. Ellet voices Marcelle’s privileged French upbringing in every syllable she utters. Supporting characters—from Michelin-heir- and-husband Victor to Indochine millionaire Khoi and the loyal Lanh—add depth and texture. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2020-02-09
Just a month after moving to Hanoi in 1933, Jessie Lesage has lost her husband and daughter in the train station. Why will no one believe her? Why does everyone insist she arrived alone?
Happily married to Victor, a lesser member of the renowned Michelin family, Jessie has transformed from the eldest child of impoverished Virginian parents into a polished Parisian socialite. With their young daughter, Lucie, she is eager to help her husband gain a stronger foothold in the family business by moving to French colonial Indochina, where Victor can personally oversee the rubber plantations and factories. Given the recent unrest among the workers, still derogatively called “coolies” in the 1930s, the Michelins need a strong hand to quell potential worker uprisings. Of course, Jessie has a few personal reasons for wanting to leave France, too, including her meddlesome mother-in-law and her own past. Once in Hanoi, the Lesages meet the French expatriates, including Arnaud de Fabry, a prominent financier, and his wife, Marcelle. A former fashion model–turned–bon vivant with an Indochinois silk tycoon for a lover, Marcelle quickly tucks Jessie under her wing. Soon, however, the shadows thicken. Not surprisingly, Victor does discover a communist overseer at one of the plantations. More strangely, on a business mission from Victor, Jessie witnesses a policeman (an officer eager to impress the Michelins) tossing the body of a tortured man into the streets, an event that sets in motion a plot of dastardly intent. Shifting focus back and forth between characters, Tanabe (The Diplomat's Daughter, 2017, etc.) reveals secrets in exquisitely paced steps—just when the reader thinks she knows who can be trusted, Tanabe’s tale twists into another back alley, exposing another unexpected skeleton in a closet. With doubt clouding every corner, Tanabe ratchets up the tension as Marcelle seeks political and personal vengeance, and Jessie increasingly cannot tell reality from imagination.
A smart, riveting psychological thriller.
