The epic story of seven women in ancient Chinese kingdom and their loyal bond of sisterhood - jin-shei.
Combine 'The Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood' with 'The Joy Luck Club', add elements of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', and you have Alma Alexander's astonishing novel, 'Jin-Shei'. Set in the Middle Kingdom of Syai, 'Jin-Shei' is a story of true friendship and spirit.
Jin-shei is a pledged sisterhood of female friends not related by blood. It is a lifetime commitment, binding and holy - its sworn sisters much closer to one another than to their own blood kin. If a sister asks anything of another in the name of the sisterhood, the request has to be honoured - at all costs.
The pledge of jin-shei carries with it lifelong bonds and the force of duty. Jin-shei sisters share a secret language which no man can read, jin-ashu, passed on from women since time immemorial.
This is the story of the intertwined lives of seven jin-shei sisters: the Warrior, Xaforn - an orphan who will protect her chosen family, no matter what the cost; the Poet, Tai - friend to the little Empress who extracts a deathbed promise that alters the history of an empire; the Scholar, Khaelin, whose thirst for knowledge leads her into a world of dark secrets and alchemy; Nhia, the Sage, whose position of honour in the temple makes her the only person who can save Khaelin; Yuet, the Healer, confidante to the Empress; and Empress Liudan, whose search for family and ultimate quest for immortality holds the power to destroy them all.
In 'Jin-Shei', the women come from all walks of life, proving that their bonds cross class, race, political, social boundaries. Readers will identify with the charismatic, very real women and issues Alma Alexander introduces.
