In the last years of the Tang Dynasty, a beautiful girl is born in a fort along the Great Wall of China, and is set to become the most famous and celebrated courtesan of her age. Set in the 9th century, Passing Under Heaven tells the tragic love story of Lily, a Chinese poet and documents a time when Chinese women enjoyed a window of unprecedented personal freedom - including the freedom to fall in love. But when Lily pushes that freedom to its limits disaster ensues, leaving her child and husband to forever mourn her loss. Based on historical fact, Passing Under Heaven is more than the story of the end of a love affair, this book also chronicles the passing of the Chinese golden age into civil war and ruin.
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Passionately imagined (INDEPENDENT )
Superbly evoked are the luxury and refinement that co-exist with cold cruelty and a fatalism that to us is puzzling. Minister Lee and Yu Xuanju cannot live with or without each other, and their long-running and tortured love affair is a beautifully handl (DAILY MAIL )
A great and passionate storyteller (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
Rich in atmosphere, lavishly described...captivating... Hill is not afraid to humanise Lily, to show her engaged in great acts of cruelty, but he does so without losing the reader's sympathy. That her life will end tragically is never in doubt, but the exact (EVENING HERALD )
Superbly evoked are the luxury and refinement that co-exist with cold cruelty and a fatalism that to us is puzzling. Minister Lee and Yu Xuanju cannot live with or without each other, and their long-running and tortured love affair is a beautifully handl (DAILY MAIL )
A great and passionate storyteller (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
Rich in atmosphere, lavishly described...captivating... Hill is not afraid to humanise Lily, to show her engaged in great acts of cruelty, but he does so without losing the reader's sympathy. That her life will end tragically is never in doubt, but the exact (EVENING HERALD )
Book Description
* A fabulous epic novel about the extraordinary (true) life of China's greatest woman poet. * Beautifully-written and compulsively readable: a thousand-year-old story of love and loss brought vividly to life.
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At the Last Fort Under Heaven the water-clock marked the changing of the watch. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
At the Last Fort Under Heaven the water-clock marked the changing of the watch. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By P. Davies
Format:Paperback
This is a superb book. I read it some time ago and my sister has recently read it and enjoyed it as much as I did. I looked out of interest to see what the Amazon customer reviews were like and am amazed that there are none! I feel strongly that this book deserves a recommendation. It is a brilliant read and I couldn't put it down. Justin Hill's knowledge and depiction of ancient China is wonderful. It is a fascinating insight into this period of time as well as a beautiful story. I have recommended it to every friend of mine who reads and everyone who has read it has loved it.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A. Macdonald
Format:Paperback
I persevered with this book for 270 pages. I eventually accepted that I wasn't particularly enjoying it and that it was detracting from the time I have to read other books.
The book is very well written but lacks plot of any depth.
The book is very well written but lacks plot of any depth.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passing Under Heaven
26 Mar 2006
By Katherine Long
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Lily has found love and security as a child which she feels entitled to as an adult. Her husband's infidelity which is only seen in her eyes, has devastated her beyond reason. Her poetry is a way of showing life, the pain of it and the underlying calm of it. Lily is determined and full of strength but is this part of her downfall, her pride? The passions in this book grip the reader with such an intensity that when you have finished reading this book you will sit and stare and wonder because it will all seem so real that it is hard to walk away.......
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I will never sell my copy of this book
9 Nov 2005
By Kartini D. H. Ismail
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
If I have to describe the book in one word, it would be "awesome". Justin Hill was so brilliant that when you read this book, you can feel the pain that each character felt. It was literally like watching a movie. I really wish somebody would make this into a film. It took me two days to finish the whole book. I just couldn't put it down.
The story evolves around the life of a girl called Little Flower who grow up to be Concudine Yu. She was also one of China's greatest female poet. it depicts the chinese culture and way of life in the 800-900 AD brilliantly.
The story evolves around the life of a girl called Little Flower who grow up to be Concudine Yu. She was also one of China's greatest female poet. it depicts the chinese culture and way of life in the 800-900 AD brilliantly.
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