Shanghai Gothic novel a delight

A change in circumstances can help people reinvent themselves — or reveal who they really are. In The Fourth Princess: A Gothic Novel of Old Shanghai, Janie Chang uses the genre of a Gothic novel to show how people’s choices can affect not only their own lives, but also those of the people around them.

Chang is the author of historical fiction novels such as Three Souls, Dragon Springs Road and The Porcelain Moon. She is originally from Taiwan but has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand and Canada (she’s now in B.C.). Her family history and ancestral stories are frequently inspiration for events in her novels.

The Fourth Princess is set in Shanghai, China, mainly in 1907 and 1911. The story begins with a sale notice for Lennox Manor, a house just outside the city, before describing the actions of Lisan Liu, an orphan who has been raised by the kindly but distant guardian Master Liu.

Lisan has no memory of her early life. As the story begins, she is on her way for a job interview — an initiative she has taken without her guardian’s knowledge — with Caroline Vessey, an American. When she returns home after a successful interview, her guardian and his brother hold secret discussions about Lisan before finally allowing her to become Mrs. Vessey’s live-in private secretary at Lennox Manor.

Although Lisan enjoys her new job, she soon realizes something is deeply wrong at her new home. She begins to experience strange dreams and visions of a former resident of the house who disappeared years earlier. Meanwhile, Caroline has her own troubles as her husband, Thomas, begins to suffer from a mysterious illness.

The revelation that Lisan is a princess comes to upset her life while offering the opportunity to leave China for Canada. Meanwhile, Caroline’s life begins to unravel when a visitor threatens to reveal a secret she has kept hidden.

Like Lisan, Caroline is not what she seems. When she can no longer hide her identity, she resorts to desperate measures to escape, endangering the lives of her father-in-law and Lisan in the process. The story ends up only partially resolved, leaving readers to wonder what happens afterwards.

As Chang explains in her notes at the end of the book, some of the incidents and characters in the book are based on real people and events. For example, the Wellington avalanche of 1910 which plays a key role in Caroline’s past was real, although the characters in the book are fictitious.

Much of this story is a portrayal of life in China as it might have been in the early part of the 20th century. The book is dubbed “Gothic,” although much of the book deals with the consequences of secrets in ordinary people’s lives and how these secrets can affect others.

Readers will enjoy Chang’s latest for its vivid portrayal of China in the early 20th century and for its engaging characters. While some events might seem unbelievable, Chang manages to make even the most unlikely coincidences work, making The Fourth Princess is a compelling piece of historical fiction.

Susan Huebert is a Winnipeg writer and pet sitter.