It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation, hosted by Kate of Books are my Favourite and Best. The idea is that Kate chooses a book to use as a starting point and then we have to link it to six other books of our choice to form a chain. A book doesn’t have to be connected to all of the others on the list – only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Ghost Cities by Siang Lu. It’s not a book that I’ve read, but here’s what it’s about:
Ghost Cities – inspired by the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China – follows multiple narratives, including one in which a young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn’t speak a word of Chinese and has been relying entirely on Google Translate for his work.
How is his relocation to one such ghost city connected to a parallel odyssey in which an ancient Emperor creates a thousand doubles of Himself? Or where a horny mountain gains sentience? Where a chess-playing automaton hides a deadly secret? Or a tale in which every book in the known Empire is destroyed – then re-created, page by page and book by book, all in the name of love and art?
I had trouble thinking of a first link this month, so I’ve just gone for something very obvious – another novel about China! Edward Rutherfurd’s China (1) tells the story of 19th century China, covering key events such as the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion through the lives of several fictional families.
The word ‘China’ also appears in the title of Bone China by Laura Purcell (2), but this time it refers not to the country but the type of porcelain. This is a Gothic novel set in the 19th century on the coast of Cornwall where our narrator has taken a new position as nurse to Louise Pinecroft, a woman who spends her days sitting silently in a room surrounded by china cups and plates. This book was published in the US as The House of Whispers, just in case there’s any confusion!
One of the characters in Bone China is a doctor who is carrying out research into consumption (tuberculosis). The Victorian Chaise-longue (3), an unsettling novella by Marghanita Laski, features a young woman recovering from tuberculosis in 1950s London. Falling asleep on a chaise-longue in the drawing room, she wakes up to find herself in the year 1864.
Staying with a furniture theme, my next book is The Poison Bed by Elizabeth Fremantle (4). This is a fictional account of the real-life Thomas Overbury murder case, a poisoning which took place in the early 17th century and implicated Robert Carr, a favourite of King James VI and I, and his wife, Frances Howard.
Cyanide is a type of poison, so my next link leads me to Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie (5), in which a beautiful heiress is poisoned while celebrating her birthday in a restaurant. No Poirot or Miss Marple in this one, but it does feature one of Christie’s other recurring characters, Colonel Race.
I looked for another book I’d read with a glass on the cover but struggled to find one, so I’m linking to one with teacups on the cover instead. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (6) is a lovely book about the relationship between a retired British Army officer and a widowed Pakistani woman.
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And that’s my chain for September! My links included: Books about China, the word ‘China’, tuberculosis, furniture, poison and pictures of drinks.
In October we’ll be starting with I Want Everything by Dominic Amerena.
She Reads Novels 
Excellent choices!
Thanks! I enjoyed putting this chain together.
Nice links. I particularly like the sound of the Laura Purcell novel
I’ve read three Laura Purcell novels now and enjoyed them all. Bone China has a fascinating plot.
You may have started with an obvious link, but then they got more and more fascinating! I keep meaning to read Bone China by Laura Purcell, so thank you for the reminder.
Yes, I’m pleased with the way the chain turned out after feeling uninspired at the beginning! Bone China is a fascinating book – very unsettling and atmospheric.
Such an interesting chain! I’ve not read anything from it but like the sound of both the Laski and the Purcell.
I enjoyed both of those, particularly the Laski.
Nice chain and some covers I hadn’t seen! My library recently was giving away a copy of Helen Simonson’s second book. I couldn’t help taking it but, as I had read them all, I gave it to a coworker who loved it and now both her mother and sister have read it and moved on to Major Pettigrew!
I see there is a new miniseries of The Forsytes. It is so annoying that series get remakes when a book by Simonson would make a great dramatization!
I enjoyed all three of Helen Simonson’s books, but I think the second one was probably my favourite. I agree that it’s frustrating to see so many remakes when there are other books that would make great adaptations as well.
“Sparkling Cyanide” is on my TBR, as it is the last of the Colonel Race books! Looking forward to it! I like how you worked this chain. Nicely done!
Sparkling Cyanide is a good one! Hope you enjoy it.
This is a marvellous, if unsettling chain. Maybe your last choice of all is the easiest read?
Yes, this turned out to be quite a dark chain! Major Pettigrew is definitely the easiest read.
Love how you got from Ghost Cities to Major Pettigrew’s Last STand. 😀
I never know where I’m going to end up when I start one of these chains!
Great job!! And, you picked a favorite of mine–Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand! Now to find the Victorian Chaise-Longue.
The Victorian Chaise-longue is really good. It’s a novella but very powerful!