Dao's enchanting fairytale is splendid!
Julie Dao does it again with a wonderful fairytale about Lan and Bao. Seventeen-year-old Lan Vu is a wealthy nobleman's daughter. Nineteen-year-old Bao is a physician’s apprentice and an orphan. Bao has always loved Lan but he fears he cannot be with her due to his status. Lan is beautiful and kind to everyone.
However, Lan's parents approve of the courtship between Lan and Tam. Because Tam is of equal standing in terms of status, this match is ideal in the eyes of most noble people. Lan and her family are hoping Tam agrees on an auspicious wedding date. Lan doesn’t know but it’s really Bao playing the flute with her blue scarf along the river. The music that Lan has been admiring is actually played by Bao and not Tam. Lan, upset, casts Bao away when he tells her his feelings about her.
Readers who read Dao's debut novel, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, will recognize some familiar characters in this novel. I appreciate the pronunciation guide in the beginning of the excerpt which helps guide me pronouncing characters’ names as I am reading. This excerpt for this enchanting novel is calling to me. I want to read more and immerse myself in the same world as The Rise of the Empress duology. Song of the Crimson Flower is a new fairytale classic!
However, Lan's parents approve of the courtship between Lan and Tam. Because Tam is of equal standing in terms of status, this match is ideal in the eyes of most noble people. Lan and her family are hoping Tam agrees on an auspicious wedding date. Lan doesn’t know but it’s really Bao playing the flute with her blue scarf along the river. The music that Lan has been admiring is actually played by Bao and not Tam. Lan, upset, casts Bao away when he tells her his feelings about her.
Readers who read Dao's debut novel, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, will recognize some familiar characters in this novel. I appreciate the pronunciation guide in the beginning of the excerpt which helps guide me pronouncing characters’ names as I am reading. This excerpt for this enchanting novel is calling to me. I want to read more and immerse myself in the same world as The Rise of the Empress duology. Song of the Crimson Flower is a new fairytale classic!