“Welcome to Paradise” by Mahi Binebine (Morocco) Book Club Favourite of Season 2 Synopsis and Review “Welcome to Paradise”: a Difficult but Inescapable Journey “Welcome to Paradise” opens with a group of people waiting on a beach for the signal to start their crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar for the shores of Spain. They are a disparate group but all are seeking the ‘promise … Continue reading Welcome to Paradise
“Empress Orchid” by Anchee Min (China) Book Club Favourite of Season 1 Synopsis To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor’s wives. When she is chosen as a lower-ranking concubine she enters the erotically charged and ritualised Forbidden City. But beneath its immaculate facade lie whispers of murders and ghosts, and the … Continue reading Empress Orchid
Nicola's Book Club 