Memoirs of a Courtesan. Mingmei Yip

      Memoirs of a Courtesan

      Mingmei Yip

       Copyright

      Avon

      HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      77–85 Fulham Palace Road

      Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      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

       Dedication

       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

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

       Epigraph

Part One

Prologue

1. The Naked Girl Jumping Towards Eternity

2. Bright Moon Nightclub

3. Madame Lewinsky

4. The Red Shoes

5. The Young Master

Part Two

6. Life Between the Two Gangs

7. Temple Celebration

8. The Lion Dancers

       9. Hospital Visit

       10. Manchurian Han Banquet and a Private Magic Show

       11. The Bund and the Amusement Park

       12. The Castle

       13. An Invitation to a Private Show

       14. Shadowy Recipes

       Part Three

       15. Life as a Spy

       16. Peony Pavilion

       Part Four

       17. A Luxury Cruise

       18. False Alarm

       19. Plaza Athénée

       20. Opera House and a Deadly Thought

       21. Shopping the Champs-Élysées

       22. Magic and Flying Knives

       23. Show of the Century

       Part Five

       24. A Ghost Baby Boy

       25. The Birth

       26.