1933 and Jessie Lesage and her French husband, Victor Lesage, Michelin heir step off a boat in Vietnam as Victor is overseeing the Michelin rubber plantations. The French have a very big presence there.
Romance, revenge, mystery and murder. A very fascinating read. The characters in this book, you can't help but love! Karin Tanabe, I will certainly be reading more of her novels.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press. Author, and NetGalley for the eARC

A rich and elegant story. Victor, who is French and his American wife Jessie, move to French Indochina to supervise the family’s rubber plantation. It was actually Jessie who nudged Victor to make the move. Jessie is sure that when Victor proves successful, he will move up in the company. Those in charge, the wealthy, live in luxury, but their employees often did not even have enough to eat. I am not always a big fan of historical fiction but this was historical fiction at its very best.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe (3 Stars)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

It’s 1933, and Jessie Lesage steps off a boat onto the shores of Indochine. She has come to join her husband, Victor, in his new position as overseer of all the Michelin rubber plantations. He is French, a Michelin on his mother’s side, and wealthy. Wealthy beyond anything Jessie encountered growing up on a poor tobacco farm in Virginia. She soon settles into the glamorous and pampered lifestyle of the ultra-rich.

But quite quickly, we find that Jessie has secrets she needs to keep from Victor, Victor keeps secrets from Jessie, and there are other forces working against them. Who, and why? I felt the plot was good, moving along at a good pace, with a few surprises thrown in. Character development was excellent, as you really felt you knew the main characters. They weren’t necessarily likable, but you understood their motivations. I did find Jessie’s friend, Marcelle, to be a dichotomy. I had a seriously hard time reconciling her actions as displayed to the world with those that she professed in private.

Where the book fell a bit flat for me was the billing of the book as historical fiction. Instead, this was a drama (not quite a thriller) set in the past, which really makes a big difference. Throughout, I really wanted to know more of the country’s history and culture, from foods to beliefs to plantation life and, yes, even opium dens. While a great deal of time was spent on the evils of colonialism, these other subjects were just lightly touched upon or mentioned in passing. If you are looking to be steeped in the time and place of Indochine, you will be disappointed. The book is also chock-full of issues--social, political, familial, racial, economic, mental health--yet none are closely examined . The ending leaves something to be desired as punishment for the wealthy is quite noticeably missing. This is probably factually more true to life than justice always being served, but still.

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Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

I had never heard of this author but am a fan of historical fiction and this one did not disappoint. I really enjoyed this book which takes place in Hanoi. It's not an area I usually read about so found this interesting. It tells a fictionalized account of family members of the Michelin family in the 1930's.

There is some mystery and suspense tied into the story as well....I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction.

3.5, but not rounding up.

This book was not at all what I expected.

Sort of historical fiction, but more evocative of a time and place--which I love.

1930s Vietnam [Indochine]. Jessie Lange, a dirt poor girl from West Virginia, lands her husband, Victor, a Michelin heir, in Paris. She maneuvers a move from Paris to Indochine where they enter the colonial lifestyle and...

Marcelle de Fabry, a married Parisian woman, also of humble origins, has an extremely rich Vietnamese lover, Khoi Nguyen. She befriends Jessie immediately upon her arrival and the wheels are set in motion for a plot/chapters that go back and forth between their voices.

This book has a little bit of everything. Colonialism. Excess drinking. Opium. Mixed-race relationships. Deviance and deceptions. Communist threat. Class divides. Rubber plantations. Bribery and corruption [lots of it]. Mental illness. Secrets. Almost too much--I felt it detracted from what could have been a stronger book.

There's lot of backstory--in fits and starts. And much of it quite interesting.

A fast-paced read [in fact, I couldnt wait to continue reading to see what happens] that devolves into a mystery. And it was this disconnect that bothered me. In the end, it was too much of a mish mash--historical fiction took a back seat and it became more of a mystery/thriller.

The writing was fine though nothing particularly memorable. The main characters were well developed.

And, the ending [no spoiler alert] just too neat and tidy for all that preceded. I'm in the minority, but...

I recommend as a fast, interesting read but it left me wanting more.

I had never heard of this author, and now I can't wait to read the rest of her titles. A Hundred Suns was interesting -- the hook early on was marvelous -- as well as extremely well-crafted. Characterizations, natural-sounding dialogue, and shifting between time periods seemed effortless. From the first chapter to the unexpected ending, I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and learning about some Vietnamese culture and history.

Karin Tanabe’s latest novel nabbed me from the start, with such an unusual premise and exploring a time period and a part of the world that I have not read much about to date. The author’s incredible descriptions and ability to set the stage really draws you in and makes you feel the lush setting, all as the action gets grittier, and grittier. This book explores so many different topics that have a richly fertile fictional world in the land of 1930’s French Indochine, all wrapped up in a fictional battle ultimately between French capitalism and Southeast Asia communism. I cannot wait to recommend it to book clubs, and discuss it with my fellow booksellers.

I wish to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read the ARC for A Hundred Suns in return for an honest review. I regret to say this book was just not for me, but I have noticed that it is very popular with most readers. I do not want my misgivings to deter any prospective readers who I feel will enjoy it.

I thought the historical setting during the 1930s in French Indochina was an interesting one. I wasn’t getting much of the atmosphere or a picture of the country, but more of the exclusive club for the rich and frivolous ex-pats. There was much drinking, drugs, adulterous relationships, descriptions of fashion, deception, plotting and intrigue. The plight and exploitation of the impoverished, overworked, and abused native plantation workers was relegated to the background as was the start of the Communist movement.

I didn’t care for the two main female characters, the scheming and duplicity, their affairs or their family life.

A Hundred Suns is set in French Indochina, now known as Vietnam in the 1930's. A lesser known Michelin heir moves his wife and child there to supervise the family rubber plantation. A suspenseful, intriguing story about the upper class and those who are serve them. I was not very knowledgeable about this time in history and I am now very interested and will be looking for more information into this time period. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Great "light reading" about the english dominance in asian countries.
Creatively woven together, if a bit predictable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel of Vietnam and the Michelin family. Well written and researched showing the early rise of communism in French Indochine. Highly reccommend for those who like historical fiction and those baby boomers who want a bit more history of how the Vietnam war began years before our involvement.

Karin Tanabe brings to life the beautiful lands of Vietnam, but through the lens of unwelcome invaders of the 1920s and ’30s, when the country was called Indochine. The French colonial time period is another sad era these graceful lands and peoples have endured at the hands of foreigners.
The Michelin rubber plantations in Indochine are a huge money-making machine for the French, but they’re a form of torture and slow death for the local inhabitants, or as cruelly labeled by the French, “coolies”, who are treated to be less than human.
The book centers on a few of the families who’ve moved to Indochine to enjoy the wealth, spoils and rewards bestowed upon the winning invaders. Tanabe does an exquisitely beautiful job of showing the foreigners’ lack of compassion and total obliviousness to their cruelty as they drink, eat and cavort, flaunting their ostentatious displays of wealth.
This book is packed full of richly colorful and deep-running characters; some born rich, some born poor, and most caught in the middle of political tugs of war. How their lives interweave is fascinating, and the plot is believable, heart-wrenching, and finally at times somewhat redeeming.
I thoroughly enjoy a good historical fiction novel, especially when it doesn’t gloss over the painful truth. This is truly a sobering and engrossing historical fiction read.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

This book was a complete escape into someone else's world, lies of omission, and family drama. I loved it! The characters were strong and complicated. The feeling of being there at that moment in history swept me away. Thank you for the great read!

‘Off to the house of a hundred suns?’

Set in the French Indochinese (South-East Asia) colonial world of the 1930s, this novel combines romance, intrigue and some of the worst colonial excesses of the era. But the colonists won’t continue to have everything their own way.

One humid afternoon in 1933, the American-born Jessie Lesage arrives in Hanoi with her husband and daughter. Her husband, Victor, is an heir to the Michelin rubber fortune. Their daughter, Lucie, is young enough to quickly adapt to life in Indochine. Jessie sees the move to Indochine as a new beginning: a world away from some secrets she’d rather keep in the past and an opportunity to increase family prosperity while the rest of the world sinks into depression. The Michelin family have large rubber plantations near Saigon: wealth should be guaranteed, provided the family can weather a recent scandal.

Jessie makes friends with the fascinating Marcelle de Fabry, a French woman with a wealthy Indochinese lover. Marcelle quickly introduces Jessie to the frenetic, privileged life of the French ex-patriates. But Marcelle has a secret motivation, and Jessie is vulnerable.

While I know some of the colonial history of what is now Vietnam, this is the first novel I’ve read set in the colonial world of French Indochine. I found the contrast between excess and exploitation absorbing. I confess that I found the setting more interesting than most of the characters, but I was intrigued by both Jessie’s journey and Marcelle’s motivation.

Recommended reading.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

A historical novel, set in Vietnam in the 1920's, early 1930's. The haves and the have not, mystery, intrigue and revenge, centered around the Michelin rubber plantation. I was totally engaged in the setting, the story line and the characters. I enjoyed reading this book! Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Historic fiction is my favorite genre. This book offered a snapshot into a Vietnam we don't much hear about. The pre-communist, French colonial perspective was informative without being dry. Jessie was a wonderfully strong character--I found myself thinking about her long after I finished the book.

This book is part historical fiction, part suspense and I feel that the author had both strong and weak parts in trying to accomplish both genres in one plot line. I had no knowledge prior to this book regarding the Michelin (tire company) history in Vietnam. I found it fascinating and appalling all at the same time. The author’s description of life as an expat in Indochine was well written. You really felt like you were experiencing everything the main characters were. The writing was strong with regards to the characters. Where I feel it was a bit weak was when the author tried to tie Jessie’s back story into the main story. It felt laborious and unpolished. Also, life on the plantations in Indochine was absolutely horrific and I feel the author treated supporting character to the main characters, which made it feel the subject was treated a bit flippantly. With all that said, the story was, overall, strong and well done.

This story is what I like about historical fiction: it teaches me about a bygone era in an area I know little about. In the case of A Hundred Suns, the setting is Vietnam, a French colony in the 1930's. Michelin rubber, silk and opium industries are woven into this story about 2 wealthy couples navigating Indochine (Vietnam) from different points of view. Communism is trying to take foot in the country--1 couple actively works to help the underground movement, while the other works to squelch it.

A first by me by this author and just WOW!! Thank you to St.Martins press and Netgalley for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. These are my opinions and mine alone. This is an amazing historical fiction read filled with suspens and mystery right until the last page! Truley compelling and a page turner! I loved Jessie and Victors story and the timeline as Ive read many in this time period thhis authors detail to time and that era are amazing! a must read for sure!!!!

I just finished A Hundred Suns and I really enjoyed the book. It is a great read for those that love historical fiction and would like to learn more about how the French colonized Indochina (Vietnam and other countries) while following a riveting story. The book kept me up late each night and I finished it in just a few days. There were some twists at the end that I wasn't expecting. I definitely recommend it!