The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo
Zen Cho’s The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is a witty historical romance about an up-and-coming writer’s entanglement with a literary legend in 1920s England.
Through sharp, lively diary entries, Jade recounts how a negative book review of famed author Sebastian Hardie led to an affair with the writer himself. Intrigued by her candor and charm, Hardie invites Jade to a party teeming with members of the British literary elite, including Jade’s publisher, Ravi. When Hardie explains the terms of his “modern” marriage and attempts to seduce Jade, she refuses—only to relent after a chance encounter in Paris a month later. Back in London and pregnant with Hardie’s child, Jade realizes her unrequited feelings for Ravi and moves into a convalescent home for women to await the birth. There, a psychiatric patient encourages Jade to reconnect with the love of her life before it’s too late.
The brief chapters assume a breathless pace. Key scenes, as of Jade sharing the news of her pregnancy, are truncated, as is Jade’s time with her true love interest, short shrifting their mutual affection. But the prose is well-stylized, paying homage to the period with wit, as with the observation: “When I am old, I shall become an itinerant poet and wear a straw hat and never worry about love again.” Frequent references to the Brontë sisters and Charles Dickens pay further tribute to classic English literature, while the book’s epistolary structure highlights Jade’s clever point of view and penchant for humor: “Cabbage is the most unexciting vegetable.”
The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is a charming, sharp-witted historical romance novel set in Bloomsbury-era London.
Reviewed by
Hannah Pearson
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