China Rich Girlfriend

Zusatztext 44613866 Informationen zum Autor Kevin Kwan Klappentext Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia's most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather. On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the salons of Paris, and a fiancé willing to sacrifice his entire inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down the aisle. Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father. Meanwhile, Singapore's It Girl, Astrid Leong, is shocked to discover that there is a downside to having a newly minted tech billionaire husband. A romp through Asia's most exclusive clubs, auction houses, and estates, China Rich Girlfriend brings us into the elite circles of Mainland China, introducing a captivating cast of characters, and offering an inside glimpse at what it's like to be gloriously, crazily, China-rich.1 The Mandarin Hong Kong, January 25, 2013 In early 2012, a brother and sister clearing out their late mother's attic in the London neighborhood of Hampstead discovered what appeared to be a cluster of old Chinese scrolls at the bottom of a steamer trunk. By chance, the sister had a friend who worked at Christie's, so she dropped them off--in four Sainsbury's grocery sacks--at the auctioneer's salesroom on Old Brompton Road, hoping they might take a look and tell us if they're worth anything. When the senior specialist of Chinese Classical Paintings opened up one of the silk scrolls, he nearly went into cardiac arrest. Unfurled before him was an image so remarkably rendered, it immediately reminded him of a set of hanging scroll paintings long thought to be destroyed. Could this be The Palace of Eighteen Perfections? The artwork, created by the Qing dynasty artist Yuan Jiang in 1693, was believed to have been secretly removed from China during the Second Opium War in 1860, when many of the royal palaces were ransacked, and lost forever. As staffers scurried around unrolling the scrolls, they discovered twenty-four pieces, each almost seven feet tall and in immaculate condition. Placed side by side, they spanned thirty-seven feet, almost filling the floor space of two workrooms. At last, the senior specialist could confirm that this was undoubtedly the mythical work described in all the classical Chinese texts he had spent much of his career studying. The Palace of Eighteen Perfections was an opulent eighth-century imperial retreat in the mountains north of modern-day Xi'an. It was said to be one of the most magnificent royal residences ever built, with grounds so vast that one had to travel between the halls on horseback. On these ancient silk scrolls, the intricate pavilions, courtyards, and gardens that meandered through a dreamlike blue-and-green mountain landscape were painted in colors so vibrantly preserved, they seemed almost electric in their iridescence. The auction-house staff stood over the exquisite masterpiece in awed silence. A find of this caliber was like discovering a long-hidden painting by da Vinci or Vermeer. When the international director of Asian Art rushed in to see them, he began to feel faint and forced himself to take a few steps back for fear that he ...

Advance praise for *China Rich Girlfriend:

“Kevin Kwan’s brand of giddy wealth porn arrived in 2013 with *Crazy Rich Asians, not a moment too soon… China Rich Girlfriend [is] the second volume in what has been projected as a gossipy, good-humored trilogy that will follow the richest old families of Singapore, Hong Kong and a few from mainland China. They join in a single shared pursuit: watching in horror as their youngest generations squander money in ways so staggering that Western show-offs look like pikers by comparison… Mr. Kwan has good aim with his fashion world- and ego-skewering shivs. And regardless of how reality-based these characters may be, he has his style references down cold… [Keeps] readers surprised and inquisitive… Snarky… Wicked… Funny.”
–Janet Maslin, The New York Times
 
“As the real China rich dig their nails into the world of the wealthy and wasteful, Kwan sharpens his with another acerbic yet affectionate examination of Asian uber-elite social mores, still largely invisible in Western popular culture… The novel is filled with jaw-dropping accounts of opulence… and showdowns worthy of an episode of "Gossip Girl."… China Rich Girlfriend is a crazy parade through the lives of the aspirational elite. It's also a rich portrait of Asia's real obsession with consumerism and its economic rise, one whose trajectory, like Kwan's, is not yet complete.”
—Nicole Lee, Los Angeles Times
 
“In this year’s best beach reading, Jane Austen meets Singapore… There’s no timely cocktail I’d rather recommend than China Rich Girlfriend… As frothy as the egg whites on the sort of cocktail you should drink while reading Kwan’s books. But if you need to assuage your guilt about summer reading with a little intellectual patina, Kwan has you covered too; His peek into this rarified world is spiked with tart observations about old and new money, the nuances of racism and the way they all interact… A cheeky reminder that those who think they can’t make a romance or a comedy of manners work in an entirely non-white setting are not just lying or kidding themselves, but wasting the almost gluttonous opportunities available to storytellers who stretch beyond convention… Fizzy, highly entertaining.”
–Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post

“The high jinks of China’s young and reckless 0.0001 percent… keep you turning the page… [A] black comedy… What I enjoyed most while reading China Rich Girlfriend were the moments of nihilistic glee at the self-absorption of the Chinese demimonde, the American Pyscho-like obsession with designer brands and desirable addresses. Kwan speaks of this culture with the authoritative tone of an insider… with anthropological analysis detailing the habits of various subspecies of ‘crazy rich Asians.’”
–Arthur Chu, *The New York Times Book Review   

"Take a Jane Austen novel, combine it with *Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and set it in the glittering capitals of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. What have you got? This deliciously fun follow-up to Kwan's bestselling Crazy Rich Asians...[a] field guide to Asia's uberwealthy echelon and comic satire at its best."
—*People

“Last year Kevin Kwan introduced summer fun readers to a cast of characters entirely foreign but somehow familiar…In *China Rich Girlfriend, he continues that story but throws into the mix the recently acquired fortunes of China that take to easy street like it’s a superhighway… They offer a taste of Asian opulence served with skewering humor. Delectable wretched excess.”
–New York Daily News
 
“Those Crazy Rich Asians are back as a mix of old and new characters in Kwan's new novel, *China…