Product Description

A sweeping epic set in medieval China; it is the story of a group of women, the Jin-Shei sisterhood, who form a uniquely powerful circle that transcends class and social custom. They are bound together by a declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows, even those with the gods, by their own secret language, passed from mother to daughter, by the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfil their destiny. The sisterhood we meet run from the Emperor's sister to the street-beggar, from the trainee warrior in the Emperor's Guard to the apprentice healer, from the artist to the traveller-girl, herself an illegitimate daughter of an emperor and seen as a threat to the throne. And as one of them becomes Dragon Empress, her determination to hold power against the sages of the temple, against the marauding forces from other kingdoms, drags the sisterhood into a dangerous world of court intrigue, plot and counterplot, and brings them into conflict with each other from which only the one who remains true to all the vows she made at the very beginning to the dying Princess Empress can rescue them. An amazing and unusual book, based on some historical fact, full of drama, adventure and conflict like a Shakespearean history play, it's a novel about kinship and a society of women, of mysticism, jealousy, fate, destiny, all set in the wonderful, swirling background of medieval China.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #173299 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Customer Reviews

Exotic and magical - complete escapism
This was such a fantastic read for me. From the very first page, I was hooked; Alexander's prose is poetical and evocative of a magical place and time.
The story follows a group of young girls, all different in age, as they grow up into adulthood. These girls are all from different social classes and positions in their society; medieval China. However, they are also linked - through jin-shei. Jin-shei is a secret society of women, bound to each other not by blood but by loyalty that makes them sisters of the heart. This special bond may mean that they merely share their secrets in life, their passions, and their upsets, just as any close friends do. However, their loyalty may be tested in harder ways and a favour asked in the name of jin-shei cannot be ignored.
As the girls pass into adulthood and they begin to find their place in the world, this bond begins to be tested as one of their number becomes the Dragon Empress. In her new place of power she lusts after complete control of her state. But the loyalties of her jin-shei sisters is really put to the test when she beigns to lust after the impossible; immortality. Suddenly, their seemingly idyllic world is a place of intrigue, treason, gossip and many dangers. Will the jin-shei group survive?

This book is fantastic for those people who enjoy complete new worlds where they can escape into for a while. There are essences of religion and philosophy, magic (dark and good), love and hate, and tragedy. It is a complex book as it follows quite a few characters. However, all the characters seemed very real to me, each one had personalities which had good and weaker sides. I really enjoyed this book, it is magical. . .

Awww! I wish I could read it all over again!
I absolutley loved The Secrets Of Jin-Shei! It was so sweet, and I found myself really attatched to the characters. It's all about a special 'society' that only women in this certain part of medeival China have, called Jin-Shei. They have their own secret language that is passed down from mother to daughter, and must never be shown to men. Also, they have unique bonds to each other, that are more powerful than the Gods.
This AMAZING book is about a circle of girls as they grow into women, tied together by the sacred bond of Jin-Shei. But there are secrets that should never be told, secrets that if brought to light could mean the end of the Jin-Shei circle.
I would recommend this book who loves to read about oriental stuff. Some parts were so sad they had me in tears! Whenever I felt that the story was getting the teeeeensiest bit dull, (and I mean teeeeensiest!) I was reeled back in, just by a single paragraph! I have no critcisms whatsoever about this book, it's deffinatley one of my favourites. Read it now!!

Trully Magnificent
This story is exactly what it says 'Trully Magical'.

This story takes you on a Journey from a child into old age of a young girl named Tai and her Jin-shei circle. Each sister features her own special talent. Each sister in the Jin-shei circle is living for the other sister. Apart from one sister who expects to be obeyed by her Jin-sei sisters to fulfil every dream she has and orders that must be met at any cost-after all she is the dragon Empress.

This is a special bond and takes these girls on a journey in medieval China as they become sisters of the heart. They are not born as family, but chose to be sisters through this special jin Shei circle.

Tai is the poet or embroiders' daughter she is soft and the most genuine sister, Nhia has a fasination with the temple and the gods and is the washer womens daughter again similar to Tai and has a heart of gold, Yuet is the healer, Quian is Guardsman's daughter with a gentle touch and wants to live for the needy and the poor, Xaforn is the Guard-the best trained guard that the guard chamber holds, Amri is the Gypsy girl that is a fantastic dancer, Khalin is the daughter of a father who has links to the courts-she has the a fasination in immortality and death, the gods and the temple sages and then there is Luidan who is the Empress the 'Dragan Empress'. She became the dragon Empress after she declares she will run the empire without an Emperor. She takes her Jin shei sister through the most difficult and agonising task to achieve her goals. This is where the sisterhood comes to breaking point and Tai is left alone with her poems and her thoughts on her sisters.

This book is fantastic and i recommend to everyone. This would make a fantastic movie some day. Its so descriptive and detailed. Every aspect of the story is well thought off and explained. It makes you feel like you are yourself a member of their Jin-Shei Circle.

It is dificult to understand the circles of the temple to start with. However, as you read on it all starts to make sense and fall into place.