The Phoenix Crown

In 1906 San Francisco, two women hope to change their fortunes: Gemma, a golden-voiced soprano whose career is faltering, and Suling, a resolute Chinatown embroideress determined to escape an arranged marriage. Both are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming millionaire whose collection of Chinese antiques includes the Phoenix Crown, a jeweled treasure looted from Beijing's fallen Summer Palace. His patronage promises each woman everything, until the great earthquake rips the city apart and Thornton vanishes, leaving behind debts, lies, and a missing crown. Five years later the crown surfaces at a lavish Paris costume ball, pulling Gemma and Suling back together for one last reckoning with the man who wronged them.