Member Profile

"The House of Wives" my historical novel is inspired by the lives of my great grandfather who was a 19th century Jewish opium merchant. He plied his trade between India and Hong Kong and married two wives, one from India and the other a Chinese woman from whom I am descended. In my story, all three lived together in a mansion called Kingsclere.

I use a slide presentation (20 minutes) that shows the background of the opium trade: how poppies are planted, harvested and then manufactured for sale. I go on to talk about the route my ancestors took and how they became wealthy. I show pictures of their mansions and describe their life style in the former British colony. I also discuss women's issues of the time and what was expected of them when they lived in a house of wives. 

The slide show is followed by a 20 minute Q & A and discussion on subjects such as history versus fiction and how the two are often confused; the morality of opium trading; the custom of wealthy men having multiple wives and how that affects their offspring; and the research it took to track down a story that spans 60+ years and encompasses two continents.