KIRKUS REVIEW
A sequel to the author's The Magnificent Savages (1996), a similarly freewheeling yarn in which historical figures are airily rung in like wind chimes. In the initial tale, American adventurer Justin Savage dealt with lethal kin, pirates on the high seas, and even the Empress of China. Now, beginning in 1882, his children are likewise buffeted by passion and predators--in America, Europe, and China. At 27, Julie Savage fumes because, in spite of her good looks and wealth, she's shunned in the marriage mart since she's half- Chinese. Scorned, Julie leaves the family's Manhattan manse and is off to China. On the train journey west, though, handsome and glamorous Lance Morrow, owner of San Francisco pleasure palaces, woos and wins Julie. They marry but the union ends tragically, and a distraught Julie resumes her interrupted jaunt to China. On a slow boat, she meets American Tim Chin, a secret revolutionary who'd like to overthrow the Dowager Empress, an acquaintance from Julie's childhood. In the meantime, Julie's brother Johnny is galloping around the Wild West with Teddy Roosevelt, where the two meet the recurring menace in Johnny's life, the ``mad'' Marquis de Mores, at whose hands he barely escapes emasculation. Back in New York, Justin is having domestic problems as his Italian wife takes off for her homeland and acquires a lover--whose son, the magnetic Franco Fosco, will feature prominently in the love life of Rachel Lieberman, lovely daughter of Justin's partner. She marries Felix Rothschild--of the famous banking family. There'll be three doomed marriages before True Love triumphs: Johnny's wife strays; Felix has an awful death; Franco Fosco turns out to be a nasty surprise. And the Mad Marquis is everywhere, surfacing finally in Rome. A gossipy, meandering tale, lightweight and as smooth as butter in the telling.
