Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
On a humid afternoon in 1933, American Jessie Lesage steps off a boat from Paris and onto the shores of Vietnam. Accompanying her French husband Victor, an heir to the Michelin rubber fortune, she’s certain that their new life is full of promise, for while the rest of the world is sinking into economic depression, Indochine is gold for the Michelins. Jessie knows that their vast plantations near Saigon are the key to the family’s prosperity, and while they have been marred in scandal, she needs them to succeed for her husband’s sake—and to ensure that her trail of secrets stays hidden in the past.

Jessie dives into the glamorous colonial world, where money is king and morals are brushed aside, and meets Marcelle de Fabry, a spellbinding French woman with a moneyed Indochinese lover, the silk tycoon Khoi Nguyen. Descending on Jessie’s world like a hurricane, Marcelle proves to be an exuberant guide to ex-pat life. But hidden beneath her vivacious exterior is a fierce desire to put the colony back in the hands of its people, starting with the Michelin plantations, fueled by a terrible wrong committed against her and Khoi’s loved ones in Paris.

Yet it doesn’t take long for the sun-drenched days and champagne-soaked nights to catch up with Jessie. With an increasingly fractured mind, her affection for Indochine falters. And as a fiery political struggle builds around her, Jessie begins to wonder what’s real in a friendship that she suspects may be nothing but a house of cards.

Motivated by love, driven by ambition, and seeking self-preservation at all costs, Jessie and Marcelle each toe the line between friend and foe, ethics and excess. Cast against the stylish backdrop of 1930s Indochine, in a time and place defined by contrasts and convictions, A Hundred Suns is historical fiction at its lush, suspenseful best.  

Review:
In the newly released book, A Hundred Suns, by Karin Tanabe, I got a glimpse of a time and place I knew nothing about,  the Indochine (Vietnam) of the 1930's.  This had much of what I love about historical fiction: vivid descriptions of time and place, and fascinating characters.  While the plot was intentionally lurid at times, and a bit sensational, it was definitely a book I couldn't put down.
Setting:
We are introduced to two different, but equally fascinating worlds:  Paris in the Jazz Age, and Indochine (Vietnam) in the 1930''s.  In Paris, we see both high society and the vibrant student scene of the time.  While the wealthy were determined to keep staunchly conservative values, university students were in love with the idea of change, particularly with Communism.

In Indochine, we also see two different worlds, that of the French colonists, and of the local people who are being oppressed.  The politics of the times were very complex, and I felt the novel did a good job of showing the nuances of this period.

Life in the 1920's and 1930's:
The book also shows how difficult life was for women at that time.  Most women had few choices.  If they wanted to have a better life, they did so by marrying well.  This limited their choices by forcing many women to accept difficult situations in exchange for security for them and their children.

Characters:
All of the characters are quite layered, especially Jessie, the main character.  While I had a lot of sympathy for what she was going through, she was no angel.  Her main motivation in life was fear.  And this nudged her to make some awful choices.  Yet I found that she was a fierce mother, and (mostly) loyal wife.

Marcelle, Jessie's new friend in Indochine, is also quite complex.  She is in love with a wealthy Indochinese man who she met when he was a student in Paris.  But as her lover Khoi points out, if he weren't ultra-sophisticated (and more French than a Parisian) would she still have fallen in love with him?

Both Marcelle and Khoi are sympathetic to Communism, but also enjoy an incredibly privileged life.  They loved the idea of equality but were never for a moment willing to give up their lavish lifestyles.

Depiction of Colonialism:
I didn't know anything about French Colonialism until I read this book.  I liked that it showed what was so insidious about it, while also showing how the French rationalized it at the time.  The deep racism of the time was so disturbing, but necessary to show how these practices destroyed a beautiful society.


Lurid moments:
The book has several moments of debauchery in order to illustrate the wildness of the times.  While I understood this, these scenes were really unpleasant to read about.   I wish that the author would have simply alluded to them, rather than spell them out.  I can't unread them!
                      
via GIPHY

Plot:
The plot is rooted in reality... and then takes on some rediculous twists.  Without giving anything away, I will just say that one character really knows how to pre-plan!  Other plot points were a bit melodramatic.  I wish the book would have stayed with the very real issue of how the French could live with the moral ambiguity of enslaving local people so they could live the High Life.

Rating: 




Release Date:  April 7th, 2020

Author:  Karin Tanabe

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  400 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation: A solid Historical Fiction about French Colonialism.