Silk roads cover

Silk roads

by Axel Madsen

Andrà and Clara Malraux had the world at their feet. Wealthy and carefree, their life was a bohemian idyll spent frequenting the hottest clubs and restaurants, and traveling and mingling with the Paris literary set. But all this changed when the stock market crashed and their fortune disappeared overnight. Penniless but still craving adventure, Andrà dreamt up a plan to travel to French Indochina where they would collect temple treasures and sell them for a huge profit in America. Against all the odds—jungle fevers, inexperience, and uncooperative locals—they succeeded. But their treasure hunt turned into a dangerous crusade when Clara and Andrà set up an anti-government newspaper in Saigon, defiantly exposing colonial injustices, corruption, and the governmentâ€s stifling of Asian culture.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?