August 2000

Rebirth and Betrothal

Award-winning author Mary Jo Putney captivated the hearts of readers everywhere with her breathtaking debut, The Wild Child. Now, in her new novel, The China Bride, she has created another fiercely moving love story and another endearing heroine -- a rare beauty torn between two cultures who valiantly struggles to discover the woman she is destined to be.

Born to a Scottish father, Troth Montgomery, betrothed to her life as a concubine, never imagined she would one day leave the Orient to arrive at the English estate of a stranger -- the brother of the man who had briefly been her husband. Kyle Renbourne, Viscount of Maxwell, had taken Troth as his bride shortly before his apparent execution in a Chinese prison. Now, as his widow, she is entitled to the home she always dreamed of but remains haunted by the memory of a dashing husband and the brief, forbidden love they shared. But then Kyle Renbourne is seemingly reborn, though his mind and body are badly wounded. Together, Troth and Kyle embark on a miraculous journey of hope, faith, and struggle against a deadly menace that has followed them halfway across the world.

"She squeezed his hand, and in her grip he felt the pulse of her chi. Pure and bright, it glowed with a compassion that warmed the depths of his darkness.... He felt scalded, melted, transformed."

Written with elegance and gentle passion, The China Bride is a stirring tale of lasting love and the power of forgiveness told by a master storyteller.