The book is told in alternating present/flashback format. The story opens with Troth Montgomery’s arrival at Warfield Park, an estate in England. She is there to see Lord Grahame, and to bring bad tidings. For Troth is the widow of Kyle Renbourne, twin brother of Lord Grahame. It’s Troth who receives the greater shock when she sees Dominic Renbourne and looks into the face of a dead man.

Troth is the child of a Chinese woman and a Scottish merchant. In flashback, we find that she has spent the last fifteen years, since the death of her parents, working as a translator for her wealthy Chinese merchant uncle and dressing as a boy. Her own Chinese name, Mei-Lian, has been replaced by “Jin Kang”. As Jin, she can travel through the worst parts of Canton, assisting the Fan-qui, or foreign devils, as the English traders are called.

When adventurous Kyle Renbourne enters Mei-Lian’s life, he quickly discovers she’s a woman and is strangely attracted to her. Kyle’s first wife and only love is dead, and he is sure he’ll never love again or remarry. But when he begs Me-Lian to take him inland to the forbidden Temple of Hoshan, he dressed as an old man and Mei-Ling in her disguise as a boy, events unfold that bring them together as lovers. Their discovery leads to Kyle’s arrest and imprisonment. He does the honorable thing and marries Mei-Ling in the old-fashioned Scottish way, not expecting to live. Indeed, as Mei-Ling makes her escape the next day, she hears the firing squad shooting at Kyle.

Mei-Ling decides to leave China behind and travel to England, to deliver the news of Kyle’s death herself. She’s accepted at Warfield Park, and life settles into a quiet routine. Until the day someone totally unexpected arrives…

China comes alive under the skilled pen of Ms. Putney. All of the small details that bring it vividly to life are interwoven in the story, with the result that China is far more vivid than bleak northern England. It’s almost a character in itself.

Mei-Ling/Troth is portrayed as a lonely woman who dreams of love but never really believes she’ll find it, and is willing to settle for her independence instead. Admirable and sympathetic, she draws us into her thoughts easily and carries us with her on her journey. This is a heroine worth rooting for.

Unfortunately, Kyle is pretty much the same-old, same-old. The “I’ll never love again” hero often comes across as though he’s stuck in an emotional time warp, which can be interesting if there is introspection to go along with it, but here he pretty much wallows for the whole book in his belief that his lost wife is his only shot at love, even when his feelings for Troth are staring him in the face. This sort of clinging to an old love business carries more than a hint of melodrama, and I found Kyle more irritating than interesting. After much non-communication, a bit of suspense is thrown in at the end to bring a resolution, and it seemed forced.

The upshot of The China Bride is that the heroine is wonderful, the settings are so vivid they are all but three-dimensional, and the hero runs a distant third in the polls. Curl up and share Mei-Ling’s journey. You’ll be glad you got to know her.

--Cathy Sova