A Song to Drown Rivers
A Novel
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4.0 • 9 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
An October 2024 Indie Next Pick • An October 2024 LibraryReads Pick
“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.
Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.
Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.
Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.
Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.
"Stunning and heart-rending." —Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Liang's propulsive adult debut (after the YA novel I Hope This Doesn't Find You) offers a straightforward retelling of the life of one of ancient China's fabled Four Beauties. Xishi's good looks are so arresting that, when she was born, "all the wild geese flew down from the sky, and the fish sank beneath the waves, having forgotten how to swim... beauty is not so different from destruction." As she grows older, she wears a half veil in public to stop people from gawking. Word of her beauty spreads to Fanli, the Yue king's top minister, who recruits her for a covert operation to bring down the enemy State of Wu by acting as a tribute concubine to the king. She's reluctantly trained in court etiquette by Fanli—and both of them are surprised by a growing attraction. As the operation moves closer and closer to success, Xishi realizes the rumors about the evil king of Wu may not all be true and comes to question her role. The historical details occasionally feel fudged—including Xishi's husband allowing her to remain a virgin—but Xishi's narration brings personalized stakes to imperial court drama and shows the double-edged sword of beauty. Fans of plot-driven historical fantasy should take note.
