The Phoenix Crown
by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Hybrid Meeting

Edithvale Community Centre, Dempsey Room

131 Finch Ave West, North York ON M2N 4H8

Convener: Sylvia Skippen

Facilitator: Elaine Rose

View photos of Previous Book Club meetings.

Overview

The book is about the connected lives of four women in the days leading up to the great Earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco and their interaction with Henry Thornton that changed their lives. The women showcased in this book include a Canadian American botanist named Alice Eastwood and three other women, Suling, a Chinese seamstress; Gemma Garland, an opera singer; and an artist, Reggie Reynolds. Their paths cross when they meet Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace. When a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart, their lives are disrupted and
Thornton disappears. Five years later, the Phoenix Crown reappears at a Paris costume ball and Gemma and Suling are drawn together in a desperate quest for justice.

We hope you can join us in person or via Zoom in the discussion of this book.