The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall: book review

The Russian Concubine (2007) is set in Junchow in pre-revolutionary China. In the introduction, in 1917, pianist Valentina Ivanova and her five-year-old daughter Lydia are separated from their husband and father, Jens Friis, by the Bolsheviks and sent to China.

The main story takes place from 1927 when Lydia has her sixteenth birthday. Teacher Theo Willoughby established a school, the Willoughby Academy in Junchow for foreigners. Even though he was spending time with Li Mei, he had eyes for Lydia, as did most young male foreigners.

Lydia and her mother are poor, so Lydia lies and steals, taking her goods to the dangerous back streets of Junchow to pawn them. She is rescued on one occasion by Chang An Lo, a young man who beats off her assailant with a kung-fu kick. They start seeing each other, but he is pursued by Chiang Kai-shek’s troops. Chang disappears.

Theo’s school might be shut down by Polly’s father, Christopher Mason, the director of a bank. Theo took a loan for the extension of the school, and Mason threatens to call in the loan if Theo keeps teaching Chinese history to his foreign students.

Alexei Serov also notices Lydia and she seems to flirt with him, much to her mother’s annoyance. Valentina doesn’t want Lydia to have anything to do with Russian males, nor with Chinese men.

By New Year, everything changes. Valentina marries Alfred Parker, a British journalist. With the help of Liev Popkov, Lydia finds Chang An Lo – branded, burned, and beaten. She harbours him secretly, knowing that, if discovered, they would both be in danger. Then the bombing starts.

The novel culminates with the exposure of Lydia and Chang, and the tragedy it brings, but also the exposure of Valentina’s secrets.

The novel depicts life in the chaos of China at the time of Britain’s occupation: the brutality, the secrets, the deceptions, and the double-standards. It is also the story of Lydia transitioning into adulthood, full of resentment and rebellion.

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