Word: petalled
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...PETAL-OF-THE-ROSE - Charles Pettit- Liveright...
...unlike Ernest Bramah's tales of Kai Lung, in its lacquered language of excessive pseudo-Oriental politeness, unlike them in the faintly lickerish tinge of the narrative, Petal-of-the-Rose gives about as realistic a picture of China as a musi-comedy does of life, affords much the same kind of titillating entertainment...
...Petal-of-the-Rose was the unwanted daughter of the learned, sensual, hard-hearted aristocrat Ou Tsong Ling. Of no account in her father's eyes, she led a secluded and boring existence shut up in the women's apartments until the Japanese, in revenge for the killing of a French missionary, sent a punitive expedition to the city. Then all the women, including Petal-of-the-Rose, were raped, thought that more lively than doing nothing all day long. Author Pettit writes suavely, ironically, often appositely, of philosophy, Christianity, "the facts of life," protects himself from censorship...
...Olga not only represents the feminine beauty of our race but the charm of the Brazilian woman. . . . Each petal unfolding over Olga's young crowned head is for us like the stars sparkling in our flag...
...basked then for weeks in the compliments the world paid her upon her daughter. Lest Mrs. Trevelyan's serenity be disturbed by the discovery of unaccountable Balkan visas on Loveday's passport, the girl blithely burns it. Just at the wrong time, however, for Loveday hears of Petal's remarriage, and instinctively recognizes that Charles, released from the bondage of maternal adoration, would yield to his Debonair if only she were at hand. How to get to England? A convenient husband is traveling home alone, with a Victorian man-and-wife passport. Loveday persuades...