The fortunes of the Savage family, begun in The Magnificent Savages (LJ 4/15/96) continue in this next installment, which focuses on Justin Savage's two children. Half-Chinese and half-Caucasian, 27-year-old Julie is shunned by the snobbish New York social world of the 1880s, and so she heads west to begin a new life. Much to Papa's dismay, she marries a disreputable rogue who made his fortune in gambling and bordellos in San Francisco. Julie's younger brother Johnny, a rake dissatisfied with his position at his father's bank, takes off to explore the Dakotas with Teddy Roosevelt. The adventures of the younger generation take them to China, Hong Kong, England, Italy, and France, as they strive to find happiness and fulfillment. As always, Stewart's story is peppered with familiar names such as Jennie Randolph Churchill, Allan Pinkerton, Alfred Dreyfus, and numerous Rothschilds. Stewart paints a colorful picture of the lives of the rich and famous in late-19th-century America and Britain, and even if his characters sometimes seem larger than life, his tale is certainly entertaining.

