The Porcelain Moon: A Novel of France, the Great War, and Forbidden Love

By Janie Chang

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From the critically acclaimed author of The Library of Legends comes a vividly rendered novel set in WWI France about two young women—one Chinese, one French—whose lives intersect with unexpected, potentially dangerous consequences.

“East meets West in World War I France. In The Porcelain Moon, Janie Chang exhibits her signature trademarks—lyrical prose, deftly drawn characters, and skillful excavation of little-known history—to give us a rare jewel in a sea of wartime fiction!”— Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author

France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, Pauline Deng runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to avoid an arranged marriage in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working in the French countryside as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps.

In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage and seeking to end a love affair that can no longer continue. Camille offers Pauline a room in her house, and the two women become friends. But before long, Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives.

Set against the little-known history of the 140,000 Chinese workers who were brought to Europe as non-combatant labour during WWI, The Porcelain Moon is a tale of forbidden love, identity and belonging that questions what we are willing to risk in exchange for freedom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781443464833

Janie Chang

Janie Chang is the Globe and Mail bestselling author of historical fiction. Born in Taiwan, Janie Chang has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, New Zealand, and Canada. Her novels often draw from family history and ancestral stories. She has a degree in computer science and is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio Program at Simon Fraser University. She is the author of Three Souls, Dragon Springs Road, The Library of Legends, The Porcelain Moon; and co-author of The Phoenix Crown, with Kate Quinn.

Reviews for The Porcelain Moon

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel opened my mind to something new about a time and place I thought I knew well and that's the presence of Chinese in France during World War I. Pauline is a young Chinese woman who came to France with her uncle and cousin to help with the family business, an antique shop in Paris, and Camille is a Frenchwoman living in a small French village close the front lines of the Great War. Pauline and Camille's stories are intertwined and the two women ultimately make a strong connection. I enjoyed this novel and appreciated learning something new about this historical period.