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The Pearl of Penang: Winner of the 2020 Selfies Adult Fiction Prize by [Clare Flynn]

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Clare Flynn

The Pearl of Penang: Winner of the 2020 Selfies Adult Fiction Prize Kindle Edition

by Clare Flynn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,148 ratings

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Winner of the 2020 BookBrunch Selfies Award for Adult Fiction

"Following the death of my wife, I am in need of support and companionship. I am prepared to make you an offer of marriage."

Evie Fraser, paid companion to a crotchety spinster, seems destined for a lonely life. Then out of the blue, a marriage proposal arrives by post. She met the handsome Douglas Barrington just once – at his wedding – but never forgot him. Now widowed, plantation-owner Douglas offers her a new life on the lush, exotic island of Penang. How can Evie resist?

But what are Barrington’s motives in marrying Evie when he barely knows her, and why is he so hostile and moody?

Evie soon finds herself pitched against Douglas on the one hand and the shallow, often spiteful world of the expatriate British on the other. Has she made the biggest mistake of her life?

Flynn’s tenth novel explores love, marriage, the impact of war and the challenges of displacement – this time in a tropical paradise as the threat of the Japanese empire looms closer.

Length: 366 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Audible Narration: Audible Narration Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible narration. Add narration for a reduced price of $3.49 after you buy the Kindle book. Ready	Language: English

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Product description

About the Author

Clare Flynn is the British author of ten historical novels and a short story collection. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B07ZP9DN6J
Publisher : Cranbrook Press (5 December 2019)
Language: : English
File size : 1341 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 366 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 1,724 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 30 in 20th Century Historical Romance (Books)
- 87 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
- 144 in Historical Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,148 ratings

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5 star		49%
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3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Historical Fiction 1930's Penang

Reviewed in Australia on 25 August 2020

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Evie Fraser is working as a companion for Mrs. Shipley-Thomas and after 9 years it’s so boring. When a unexpected marriage proposal arrives by post from Douglas Barrington she throws caution to the wind, this could be her only chance of getting married and she accepts. She met the handsome Douglas just once; years ago at his first wedding and she’s never forgotten him. Douglas is now a widower, he has a young daughter Jasmine and she’s keen to leave England, live in a new country and marry him.

Evie is excited to be sailing to Malaya and when her ship docks her husband to be isn’t waiting for her, it's not a good sign and she wonders if she’s been stood up? Eventually Douglas arrives at his townhouse, they marry, after the wedding he’s very grumpy, he doesn’t want to talk and Evie wonders if she's made a big mistake?

For Jasmine’s sake she decided to stay, she’s a sweet girl; Evie hopes to get to know her husband better and work on their relationship. Evie meets Jasmine’s teacher Mary Helston, they become good friends and she’s one of the few English ladies who’s friendly and nice to her. But will her peaceful life in Penang change with the talk of another world war, Douglas thinks it’s a lot of fuss over nothing, he believes it’s too hard for the Japanese army to enter Malay by having to hack through the jungle and also Singapore is well defended by the British?

I enjoyed reading The Pearl of Penang, I gave it four stars and I can’t wait to start reading the next book in the series.

One person found this helpful

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surfrider1

Great story - hard to put down

Reviewed in Australia on 9 June 2020

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This writer has such an amazing writing style. Everything flows so smoothly and emotions are so well expressed that I really felt as if I was experiencing them myself. The description of events is so clear and detailed that I felt I was there, seeing them with my own eyes. This is the best writer that I have come across for a very long time. Congratulations on an outstanding historical fiction novel. I am currently really enjoying the sequel and looking forward to more from this author.

One person found this helpful

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VAL TUFREY

Please write another!

Reviewed in Australia on 4 March 2020

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I really loved this story because I lived in Penang in the 1970s and I recognized all of the landmarks. Attitudes were slightly better than the 50s and while we did know some people there, who were involved with tin and palm oil, we were RAAF and our lifestyle revolved around Air Force life. I was sad when the story ended.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Magic

Reviewed in Australia on 20 September 2020

Verified Purchase

A wonderful book. The story itself is a great read, but added to that are the moments of humanity that make us realise how wonderful it can be to be human. There a few happenings and thoughts that will help me lead a better life, being kinder to myself.

One person found this helpful

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Enthralling

Reviewed in Australia on 18 November 2020

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It is the first book i have read by this author and absolutely loved the story. Being a child brought up in this lifestyle of amahs and the Far East your characters were spot on. My parents were expats and this is how they lived and socialized. They are both gone now but it brought back amazing memories for me. Thank you.

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Amazon Customer

A very adult novel, very enjoyable

Reviewed in Australia on 30 December 2020

Verified Purchase

I liked it from page one. The plot - very different. The characters - not a love triangle, but a quartet. When the reader understands the seldom-mentioned location and puts it together with the specific times designated, the book presents a most unforgettable read. I am so pleased I selected it.

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Wonderful book

Reviewed in Australia on 23 November 2020

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The main character annoyed me for giving this man her husband so many chances. As a modern day strong woman I would not have given him those chances.
Glad she found love at the end after all she had been through

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Malynka

Totally enjoyable

Reviewed in Australia on 19 June 2020

Verified Purchase

The storyline drew me into a setting that I hadn't been before, Penang. Strong believable characters finishing with the result you hoped for but couldn't see how it could be. Loved it.

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Top reviews from other countries

Alba52

Intelligent and gripping

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2020

Verified Purchase

You know you’re on to a winner when you look forward to finishing the chores so you can get back to your book. As a slow reader, it’s not often I find myself wishing a book had been longer, but Clare Flynn’s THE PEARL OF PENANG is just such a gem. I’d never heard of the island of Penang and knew nothing about Malaya, but the REBECCA-like premise intrigued me and once I’d started reading, I found the book hard to put down.

Flynn has a knack for drawing you in to a story. She evokes the sights and scents of a tropical island so vividly, you almost feel as if you’re there. The characters are complex, some not very likeable, but they’re always believable. As the Japanese invaded, I found myself caring about the fate of even minor characters.

If I have one quibble, it’s that the last few action-packed chapters left me feeling bereft, wanting to know more about the fate that had befallen some characters in the chaos of invasion. I wondered if a sequel was in the works. I’ve since discovered there will be a sequel novella, THE PRISONER OF PENANG. Hooray!

7 people found this helpful

Kit D

A Surprise Excellent Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2020

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This book surprised me because firstly I am a guy who usually reads blokes books and secondly because my Wife said it did not look like my sort of book. Well, I really enjoyed the book from beginning to end. Having lived in Singapore and travelled within Malaya in the 1960s I could relate to the expat lifestyle of pre war times. Excellent.

6 people found this helpful

CharlyB

An absorbing read and a lush tropical setting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2020

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I was first attracted to The Pearl of Penang by the gorgeous cover and the lush setting but then was quickly drawn into the story. Evie arrives in Penang to marry a man she hardly knows. The fierce tropical heat is a shock for her but that pales into insignificance as she struggles to understand her new husband’s unpredictable moods. But Evie’s troubles have only just begun. She is undermined at every turn by one of the ex-pat wives and World War II draws inexorably closer. The Pearl of Penang is the first book I’ve read by this author and I look forward to reading more.

4 people found this helpful

ScotsgirlinWales

A tale of love and loss.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 April 2020

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This is fascinating story of a courageous woman whose life is transformed from a deadly boring existence in Britain to a place in magical Malaya. Evie, our heroine, has to adapt to colonial life in a deeply foreign society, sweltering in a country run by British overseers who behave with outrageous arrogance to the local inhabitants. They are despised by the locals and life for Evie seems to be heart-breaking and filled with only loneliness and a sense of never belonging.
However, war intercedes and Evie's life is turned upside down.
This is a beautiful story, written with sensitivity and delight for the beauty of Malaya. The reader will be captivated and drawn into a story of love, heroism and bravery.

2 people found this helpful

LornaF

Evocative drama in a vividly-realised 1930s Penang setting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2020

Verified Purchase

I read this and its sequel while recuperating from major surgery. I was looking for books with the power to transport me out of the here and now – for obvious reasons! – and The Pearl of Penang absolutely delivered. I knew already that Clare Flynn has the ability to capture the atmosphere of both time and place so well. Here, the location is Penang, in the run-up to the Second World War. Her heroine has the courage to take a massive risk, marrying a man she met briefly years ago, only to discover that her escape route from a humdrum limited future entails a journey to an environment utterly foreign to her and oppressive in its sweltering heat; marriage to a man who is complex and difficult to deal with, and adjustment to a colonial society with all its issues of class and snobbery. What seems safe – even claustrophobic – is, of course, under threat, as the British community, once war breaks out, thinks itself untouchable. Such complacency is to be terrifyingly shattered once the invasion takes place and the cosy world they thought they were in charge of is destroyed. Evie is a warm and sympathetic character with an instinct for what’s right. Her moral compass leads her to struggle against forbidden love. The details of Penang life are beautifully realised and the cast of secondary characters all fascinating in their own right. My only quibble is that the final section of the novel passed too swiftly – I was so fascinated by the quality of Clare Flynn’s historical research I wanted more!

One person found this helpful

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