Local author Simon Choa-Johnston has released a follow-up to his best-selling 2016 novel, The House of Wives.
House of Daughters, a stand-alone sequel, brings to life the sights and sounds of 1920s Hong Kong. Like the first book in this planned trilogy, the novel is inspired by Choa-Johnston’s ancestors.
Pearl Belilios, a wealthy Jewish-Chinese matriarch, is convinced that a series of fatal events are signs of a family curse, brought on by her absent husband’s involvement in the lucrative opium trade. Distraught, yet single-minded, Pearl is determined to trick the curse and protect her grandchildren, whom she dotes on with mouth-watering meals and larger-than-life story-telling sessions. The question is, how far will Pearl go to fend off the curse, as age and infirmity take hold?