The first book in ‘The Shanghai Tetralogy’ City Rising:
On the Hua Shan (the Holy Mountain) 250 years before Christ, the most powerful man in the world, the First Emperor bequeaths a talisman to his three trusted followers: the BodyGuard, his favourite Courtesan, and his Head Confucian - a narwhal tusk with carvings depicting the growth for the next 2500 years of a city at the Bend in the River - Shanghai. The warning from the First Emperor before he commits suicide is to watch for the White Ships on Water - and so the progeny of the three who are entrusted with the Tusk do - and then - in 1841 - they arrive. British Men of War ships - and Opium.
City Rising tells the story of two destitute Baghdadi jews who become opium lords - and the battles against the powerful British Opium companies - and the boys’ eventual love of the City at the Bend in the River - Shanghai.
“An epic [series] spanning thousands of years with larger-than-life characters and page-turning qualities.”
– MacLeans
“Rotenberg’s take on the street life, bureaucracy, and sheer mass of Shanghai cleverly captures a wonderful, baffling city. “
– Toronto Star
“A massive, fascinating, and powerful [series] that spans genres, maybe confounds them. [Rotenberg] possesses a prodigious memory for atmosphere and place.”
– Jurgen Gothe
A novel about the cumulative unease and random violence that has gripped American life.
Another brilliant entry in the Father Christmas annals.
