Sin Jinhua Biography THE COURTESAN By Alexandra Curry Now Available In Paperback

THE COURTESAN brings to life a culturally-nuanced and poignant reimagining of the life of a famous-or perhaps infamous-historical figure, Chinese courtesan Sai Jinhua. Suddenly cast out after the execution of her father, the young Sin Jinhua is sold to a cruel brothel owner. There, she experiences the very worst that life has to offer, yet she maintains her imaginative and bright spirit and builds a deep and sustaining friendship with a brothel maid, Suyin.

Jinhua's quick wit and kind heart catch the eye of the Emmissary to Prussia, Austria-Hungary, Holland, and Russia, and he takes her into his home as a concubine. She finds herself on a cross-cultural journey she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams, traveling to Eastern Europe and struggling to bridge two opposing worlds. Torn between her Chinese roots and Western sympathies, Jinhua's life is in peril when she returns home, where the Boxer Rebellion looms on the horizon.

Alexandra Curry has lived all over the world, and her experiences translate into a keenly aware and knowledgeable portrait of Jinhua in this stunning debut that Jennifer Cody Epstein, internationally bestselling author of The Painter from Shanghai, described as "the best kind of historical fiction...lyrical, sweeping...meticulously researched and mesmerizingly poetic."