Tai Pan by James Clavell

A while back, I reviewed Clavell's Sho-Gun, and that reiterated my interest in the author. I knew my brother had read some of his other books, so I decided to ask him for a recommendation and this was his top choice. Tai Pan is the story of Hong Kong, just after the British have taken control of the island. The main protagonist, Dirk Straun, is the Tai Pan, or supreme leader, of Noble House and the most powerful trader in China. I think one of the most interesting pieces of the story are the perceptions that each society has about each other - they both consider the other to be barbarians, incapable of understanding anything more than basic conversation and needs. Straun, like the main character in Sho-Gun, not only learns from the Chinese culture, but takes some of the teachings to heart, for example, bathing on a daily basis, which was not the norm in the 1840's. It's kind of funny looking back to see how naïve people were! The story has everything you can want in a good novel - backstabbing, love, freak weather, history, family issues, intrigue, etc. Even if you aren't interested in the time period, and I'll admit I was a little leery going in, you will still be captivated and swept up in the story.

The follow up to this story, Noble House, is one I'm going to try to read as well. It follows Straun's company into the future, and is being run by his descendants.