Shaman
A Tara Adventure
by
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Standing for the first time on the edge of the Bund, the edge of Shanghai as my father had described it, I shall never forget the first thrilling experience of the frenetic atmosphere, the smell – stench more like it – and the sheer noise of Shanghai, called jenao (hot din). Beggars and coolies wanting money or something to carry pulled at our clothes and shouted their singsong rhyming pleas. I am accustomed to it now, but then it was all so new. No description could really explain the feeling of energy, noise and excitement projected by this huge, modern and vibrant city.
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About the Book
That one country, albeit a very big one, should contain two such different cities as Peking (set in the remote past of the emperors) and Shanghai (cosmopolitan and ahead of its time) at the same time seems fascinating in itself. And here, they are both featured in one book. Due to the financial losses and illness of her father, Arielle becomes a courtesan as the only support of her family. During training, Arielle witnesses a client’s frightening attack on a colleague. Under the instruction of Wu—a beautiful, mysterious shaman from Tibet—Arielle masters the art of self-defense and continues her training as a shaman: a person regarded as having access to good and evil spirits. In this role, Arielle’s professional name is Tara, which has Buddhist significance, meaning “she who saves through virtuous and enlightened action.” The 1937 murder of a young English girl in Peking propels Tara into a daring and dangerous mission to bring the vicious American murderer from Peking to justice under his own country’s law in the International Settlement of Shanghai.
About the Author
Margaret Blair MA, MBA has enjoyed three careers: as a teacher, social and financial marketing researcher, mother of three and grandmother of three. She is the author of two books on Shanghai of the 1930s and 1940s one a memoir and one a historical novel. Margaret is also the author of a book of essays set in rural Canada and another book set in Toronto in 1969/70. She lives with her husband, an emeritus professor of the University of Toronto, beside a stream, among Mennonite farms in southwest Ontario, Canada. Website: www.margaretblair.com