The Phoenix Crown: A Novel

Alice is living in the Tahoe area, hiking and spending time in nature while traumatized from the earthquake. She writes Gemma, Suling, and Reggie, but doesn’t tell them about her mental health issues. At the post office, Alice talks to a girl about studying for school. She is frustrated with patriarchal norms that discourage higher education for women. She thinks about how being good and talented is not enough for a woman. Suling writes that she burned offerings for Madam Ning and her other family members who died that day. Reggie sends a sketch, and Gemma writes that she married George. The next letter is from Clarkson, who says Henry is presumed dead, but no one has found a body. Alice believes he is still alive.

Suling and Reggie move to New York, then Paris. In a Saks department store, Suling meets an American heiress named Natalie Barney, who helps Suling get a foot in the door at Callot Soeurs (an important French designer in this era). Her portfolio, especially the dragon robe, gets her the job. There is less anti-Asian racism in France, but Reggie still struggles with nightmares and is having difficulty regaining the weight she lost in the asylum.