title: My Last Empress: A Novel
author:  Da Chen 
description: Nabokov meets <i>Dream of the Red Chamber. . .</i>A lyrical tale of crossed borders, boundaries and destinies, expertly told. <i>Kirkus</i>, starred review<br /><br />A wonderful tale of passionate obsessionthe prose is elegantly inviting. <i>Library Journal</i><br /><br />The best romance stories are always the most fearlessSweeps you away with visions of a bygone age of royal extravaganceFans of sweeping historical romance like<i>Gone with the Wind</i>and Ian McEwans<i>Atonement</i>, as well as fans of transgressive sexual explorations like Nabokovs<i>Lolita</i>, will find another engrossing story in<i>My Last Empress.</i>Its both moving and frightening, dark and hopeful, gut-wrenching and inspiring. Chen has delivered another powerful work in an already stellarcareer. <i>Bookpage </i><br /><br />Chens lyrical prose enhances and deepens the eerie tone of this atmospheric melodrama. <i>Booklist</i><br /><br />Steeped in the language and colors of an Asia long gone Chens19th-century tale of obsession explores the line between love and madness. <i>Publishers Weekly</i><br /><br />"In <i>My Last Empress</i>, Da Chen pushes the reader into the strangest corners of the human heart, with a style of pure creepy gorgeousness. Like a fan opening, vane by mysterious vane." Janet Fitch, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>White Oleander</i> and <i>Paint it Black</i><br /><br />Da Chen's <i>My Last Empress</i> is an intoxicating and consistently surprising historical novel that delves into the nature of erotic passion, obsession and phantasmagoric haunting with vivid descriptive flourishes that evoke the courtly life of 19th century imperial China. Set against the backdrop of both New England and China, the narrative masterly interweaves the story ofnarrator Samuel Pickens going in search of his deceased beloved while stumbling upon the intrigue and mysterious machinations of theChinese emperor, a worldfull of eunuchs, warlords, and concubines, replete with loyalty and betrayal. Simultaneously a timeless love story and a dazzling tale of dangerous infatuation, <i>My Last Empress</i> brings the reader along on a sensual and astounding journey of self-discovery and cultural revelation. A truly original novel written by one of our most inspired biculturalwriters. Ravi Shankar, Pushcart Prize winning poet and Founding Editor of <i>Drunken Boat</i><br /><br />"If you took the love child of J.D. Salinger and F. Scott Fitzgerald, then raised him in China, you would get something close to the beauty, truth, and elegance of the words of Da Chen in<i>My Last Empress."</i>  John Buffalo Mailer, author of <i>Hello Herman </i>and <i>The Big Empty</i><br /><br />Da Chen has followed Nabokov's dictum to caress the detail beautifully, with a calligraphic touch, to create an enchanting tale and a picaro journey through the vanities of the American upper classes with many surprising twists, humor, eros, and profound psychological insights.  Josip Novakovich, American Book Award and Whiting Award winning author of <i>April Fool's Day</i>
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  Dance:
  
  
  Cinderella Retold
  
  
  
  
  
  DEMELZA CARLTON
  
  
  Book 3
  
  
  of the
  
  
  Romance a Medieval Fairy Tale series
  
  
  
  
  
  A dutiful daughter. A prince forced to find a bride. If the shoe fits…
  
  
  Once upon a time…
  
  
  When the Emperor’s army comes recruiting, Mai signs up, seeing it as the
  perfect escape from her stepmother and a lifetime of drudgery. Armed with her
  mother’s armour and a pair of magic shoes, Mai marches off to war…only to find
  herself sharing a tent with the General’s arrogant nephew, Prince Yi.
  
  
  The best swordsman in the Empire, Prince Yi wants to make war, not love, but
  the Emperor insists this will be Yi’s last campaign before he must marry.
  Prince Yi has never met his match…until now.
  
  
  Can one woman win the war and the prince’s heart?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  Dedication
  
  
  This book is dedicated to May.
  
  
  No one else was crazy enough to encourage me to live the fairy tale.
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2017 Demelza Carlton
  
  
  Lost Plot Press
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  