{"product_id":"china-court-9781504066594","title":"China Court","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e-bestselling novel of the lives, loves, and foibles of five generations of a British family occupying a manor house in Wales.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For nearly one hundred and fifty years the Quin family has lived at China Court, their magnificent estate in the Welsh countryside. The land, gardens, and breathtaking home have been maintained, cherished, and ultimately passed along--from Eustace and Adza in the early nineteenth century to village-girl-turned-lady-of-the-manor Ripsie Quin, her children, and her granddaughter, Tracy, in the twentieth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Brilliantly intermingling the past and the present, \u003ci\u003eChina Court\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweeping family saga that weaves back and forth through time. The story begins at the end, in 1960, with the death of the indomitable Ripsie, whose dream of a life at the grand estate was realized through her marriage to the steadfast Quin brother who loved her--though he wasn't the one she had always loved. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With thrilling literary leaps across the decades, the story of a British dynasty is told in enthralling detail. It is a chronicle of wives and husbands; of mothers, sons, and daughters; of those who could never stray far from the lush grounds of China Court and the outcasts and outsiders who would never truly belong. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Bearing comparison to \u003ci\u003eOne Hundred Years of Solitude \u003c\/i\u003eby Gabriel García Márquez, Rumer Godden's novel relates the history of a family with sensitivity, wit, compassion, and a compelling touch of magical realism. A family's loves, pains, triumphs, and scandals are laid bare, forming an intricate tapestry of heart-wrenching humanity, in a remarkable work of fiction from one of the most acclaimed British novelists of the twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGodden, Rumer:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Rumer Godden (1907-1998) was the author of more than sixty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature, and is considered by many to be one of the foremost English language writers of the twentieth century. Born in Sussex, England, she moved with her family to Narayanganj, colonial India, now Bangladesh, when she was six months old. Godden began her writing career with \u003ci\u003eChinese Puzzle \u003c\/i\u003ein 1936 and achieved international fame three years later with her third book, \u003ci\u003eBlack Narcissus. \u003c\/i\u003eA number of her novels were inspired by her nearly four decades of life in India, including \u003ci\u003eThe River\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKingfishers Catch Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBreakfast with the Nikolides\u003c\/i\u003e, and her final work, \u003ci\u003eCromartie vs. the God Shiva\u003c\/i\u003e, published in 1997. She returned to the United Kingdom for good at the end of World War II and continued her prolific literary career with the acclaimed novels \u003ci\u003eThe Greengage Summer\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e In This House of Brede\u003c\/i\u003e, and numerous others\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eGodden won the Whitbread Award for children's literature in 1972, and in 1993 she was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Nine of her novels have been made into motion pictures. She died at the age of ninety in Dumfriesshire, UK. \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Road Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50554047070482,"sku":"9781504066594","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a4311d50-7799-4803-9fb3-a80b5e74ca3f.jpg?v=1731705656","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/china-court-9781504066594","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}