"A fascinating illumination of nineteenth-century Chinese culture and the complex Englishman Robert Hart, the father of China's modernization. Hart's struggles adapting to Chinese culture, always feeling the pull and force of his Victorian British background, are compelling. His relationships with his concubine and his concubines sister are poignant--the novel is as much a study of the complexities of love as it is anything else. A powerful novel ..."  -- Judge of 2008 Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards 

 www.mysplendidconcubine.com 

"My Splendid Concubine is packed cover to cover with intriguing characters and plot, a must read for historical fiction fans and a fine addition to any collection on the genre." 
  -- Midwest Book Review, Bethany's Bookshelf, May 8

“Forming the keystone of Lofthouse’s masterpiece is not a dry reiteration of history but a racy tale of inter-racial love…. Lofthouse wants his readers to see Hart not only as an historical icon but as a man with desires and flaws, vulnerability and ambivalence…. (He) weaves amazingly vivid details into Robert Hart’s immersing process…. a keen eye for striking details, with My Splendid Concubine a bold, panoramic and highly readable page turner.”
Cool Han, ForeignerCN.com, April 8

“Some readers may be uncomfortable with the frank sexuality of the novel, as well as Hart’s simultaneous romantic relationship with both Ayaou and Shao-Mei, but those who are interested in unconventional romances with an out-of-the-ordinary setting will find plenty to enjoy.”
Nanette Donohue, Historical Novels Review Online, May 2008   

"It's about sex. But it's about sex of a kind most people are unfamiliar with. Robert is not familiar with it either and that's why he has so many problems with it. Now this might seem strange, but Sir Robert has too many beautiful, young women whose main purpose in life is to satisfy his every whim and the thought of his situation almost drives him mad. He flees from his house on at least one occasion. The thing is that Mr Lofthouse makes running away through the streets of a Chinese city in order to escape from a brood of lovely women sound like a perfectly reasonable thing to do! …So, whether it's dodging bullets, orienteering or just finding one of his own beds to sleep in at night, nothing comes easily to Robert."
Review by Patrick Mackeown, Litarena, London, England, July 2008

"Lofthouse eloquently weaves together historical facts into the lives and emotions of his characters in My Splendid Concubine. …here is a story that will help you understand how one period can change the direction of the future – all for the love of a single woman."
Peter N. Jones, New Great Books Review

“… Lofthouse has crafted a novel that tells an intriguing and amazing tale of a man’s life that is objective and yet compelling.”
John Helman, Allbooks Reviews

“… Lofthouse did an amazing job with My Splendid Concubine. I thought Sir Robert Hart’s story was a beautiful one of romance for both his concubines as well as the country of China.”
Cheryl, Fallen Angel Reviews

"My Splendid Concubine depicts another half of Sir Robert Hart: the dark half that Hart himself relegated to ashes and the Communist Party of China put on trial half a century after his death. Conscious that historical fiction readers demand potboilers over academic fare, Lofthouse plays on Hart’s notoriety, and obviously has fun while doing it."
Review by Tom Carter, author of ‘China: Portrait of a People’, July 2008
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Soon after arriving in China in 1854, Hart falls in love with Ayaou, but his feelings for her sister go against the teachings of his Christian upbringing and almost break him emotionally. To survive he must learn how to live and think like the Chinese. He also finds himself thrust into the second bloodiest conflict in history, the Taiping Rebellion, where he ends up making enemies with men such as the American soldier of fortune known as the Devil Soldier. During his first years in China, Robert experiences a range of emotion from bliss to despair. Like Damascus steel, he learns to be both hard and flexible, which forges his character into the great man he is yet to become.

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