Memoirs of a Courtesan
Did you love Memoirs of a Geisha? Want to be swept away by an epic tale of intrigue, forbidden love and deadly rivalries?A poor orphan girl is saved by a rich man and brought Shanghai.She becomes a beautiful and sophisticated singer, the talk of the town, wanted by every man.But her destiny is not to be so simple – lies, seduction and a terrible choice must follow…For fans of Anchee Min and Memoirs of a Geisha, this is a gripping story that will seduce and enchant you.
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Memoirs of a Courtesan
Mingmei Yip
Avon
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Copyright © Mingmei Yip 2012
Cover images ©Shutterstock 2014
Mingmei Yip asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007570140
Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007570157
Version: 2014-09-23
To Geoffrey, who makes the whole world beautiful
Never give up working to defeat your enemy. Master his fate. Exploit his unpreparedness and attack him when he is unaware.
—Art of War, Sunzi (ca. 544–496 BC)
Stir the water to catch the fish – benefit by creating chaos
—Thirty-Six Stratagems, collection of popular ancient Chinese proverbs on outwitting your enemies. First mentioned in Southern Qi dynasties (AD 847–537)
So long as my body is still here, so will be my love for you.
—Li Shangyin (ca AD 813–858), Tang dynasty poet
Contents
1. The Naked Girl Jumping Towards Eternity
10. Manchurian Han Banquet and a Private Magic Show
11. The Bund and the Amusement Park
13. An Invitation to a Private Show
20. Opera House and a Deadly Thought
It all happened because I was considered perfect material to be a spy – beautiful, smart and, most important, an orphan.
I am well aware of what people call me behind my back: Skeleton Woman!
Actually, this does not bother me a bit. Let others feel spite, jealousy, hatred for me. At times I feel a secretive, ticklish glee.
I am a woman who can turn men into skeletons under my touch, though it is as light as a petal and as tender as silk.
My name is Camilla. At nineteen, I’d already become the lead singer at Shanghai’s most popular and elegant Bright Moon Nightclub. It was through powerful connections that I got this position at my young age, with the bonus of being the object of desire of many men and the jealousy and hatred of countless women. And then there were Shadow and Rainbow Chang.
They were the other skeleton women.
But unlike me, Rainbow and Shadow were not nightclub singers. Rainbow, Shanghai’s most popular gossip columnist, made her fortune by digging up secrets and dirt for the Leisure News. Though she had a woman’s name, she exuded the charm of both sexes as she rode the waves of in-between. Short haircut, silk tie and outrageously expensive and impeccably tailored suits contrasted with white-powdered face, rouged cheeks, pink lips, silvery-pink eye shadow and long, lush, artificial lashes. Rainbow neither dressed like a woman nor looked like a man. Exposing everyone else’s secrets in her column, for herself she chose camouflage, in sex as well as in life. But why? It was yet to be found out.
If Rainbow Chang presented herself as mysterious, then Shadow was absolutely unfathomable. Everything about her was staged like a magician’s stunning feats – jumping into thin air; escaping from locked chains under water; cutting a volunteer into multiple pieces, then restoring her in seconds. Carried out in a skimpy dress, enhanced by snake-slick movements, with an expressionless, stunningly beautiful face. Who was she? I was dying to find out.
We used artists’ names; no one knew our real ones. With our own agendas, we were the three most pungent ingredients in this boiling cauldron called Shanghai. Men went crazy for a taste of us, while women sought our elusive recipe.
