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This short little book (256 pages) is really two stories in one. Nathaniel Carrington brings his wife Amelia and children to Peking in 1899 so he can take over running the family's antique business. Things go reasonably well at first, including a invitation to the ladies in the Legation Quarter to tea with the Dowager Empress Tz'u-Hsi. There's a lot of unrest in the countryside and it isn't long before the Boxer Rebellion is in full swing and the mostly European residents of the Legation quarter face attack and a full blown siege. The flip-side of this is set two generations later in 1975, where the Carringtons returned with their collection Chinese artifacts (including a few pieces purloined from the Empress's abandoned palace). Nathaniel's youngest daughter Suzie is in her 70's and in control of the fabulous collection of art and lords it over friends and family as to who she intends to leave it all to. There's a bit of intrigue and mystery surrounding it all with some unexpected twists and turns from the past that can only be solved by an entry in a very old diary kept by Nathaniel.All in all an entertaining, quick easy read. It didn't rock my world, but Eden did keep me reading and I didn't pick up on the last minute twists until just before they were revealed. I wasn't too thrilled at first with the alternating story-lines, but it does work in the end. I wouldn't go running out to buy this one, but if you come across it (or any Eden novel) at a library sale or used book store it's worth a shot. 3.5/5 stars.