Where The Last Cato dealt with actions all around the Mediterranean, Everything Under the Sky deals with a quest in China circa 1920's.

A woman, Elvira De Poulain, a Spanish woman living in Paris, is heading for Shanghai. She has been notified her husband (taking care of his family's enterprise in Shanghai) is dead and must come to care for his affairs. She, accompanied by her niece Fernanda, enters in a completely different culture the second they step off the boat.

Turns out Elvira's husband was greatly in debt, through gambling, opium, and other vices. Even selling all their possessions won't begin to negate the massive debt.

During a dinner at a consulate, an Irishman, Mr. Tichborne, tells Elvira her and her niece's lives are in danger. A priceless object in her husband's possessions is the cause of his murder, and she needs to talk to an antiquarian, a Mr. Jiang, to see what to look for - turns out Remy, Elvira's late husband, has an ancient object that is key to finding the sarcophagus to the First Emperor of China - countless treasure! A means to pay off the debts, even when divided up between all the parties!

So starts a great adventure with the star being China - the culture is celebrated, and Asensi's writing is so vivid, you will feel you are fighting along in battles, doing peaceful Tai Chi, or gazing on the riches of a ruler lost for thousands of years.

Characters change, lives change. The majesty of China opens her arms for all to see.

It is a different read than The Last Cato - both are excellent in their own way.

An excellent read for fans of historical fiction, China, martial arts, and/or legends of untold riches...

ellen george

Everything Under the Sky by Matilde Asensi, ISBN: 978-0-06-145841-5, Harper Collins Publisher, review by ellen george