Foul Lady Fortune

Foul Lady Fortune (2022) is the third novel by author Chloe Gong, all of whose books draw heavily from Shakespeare’s plays. The central characters in her first two novels, Roma and Juliette, represent modern-day versions of Romeo and Juliet. The novels’ titles are borrowed quotes from the same play.

Similarly, Foul Lady Fortune is loosely based on As You Like It, and the novel depicts the characters Rosalind and Orlando as Rosalind and Orion. The book’s title, too, is inspired by Shakespeare’s comedy, in which the character Jacques says, “As I do live by food, I met a fool / Who laid him down and basked him in the sun / And railed on Lady Fortune in good terms.” The quote implies—as does this novel’s title—that Fortune has dealt foully with the fool.

Foul Lady Fortune is a sequel to Gong’s Romeo and Juliet duology, These Violent Delights (2020) and Our Violent Ends (2021), which earned the author the status of #1 New York Times bestselling author. Like her central characters, the author comes from a cosmopolitan background. She was born in Shanghai, grew up in New Zealand, was educated in America, and now lives in New York. However, Gong doesn’t speak quite as many languages as Rosalind and Orion do. Foul Lady Fortune falls into the categories Teen & Young Adult Asian Historical Fiction and Teen & Young Adult Historical Romance. This study guide and all its page citations are based on the Kindle edition of the book.

The story uses an omniscient narrative technique yet describes most of the action from the perspective of a handful of its major characters. The novel refers multiple times to events that transpired in Shanghai, China previously, in the author’s preceding duology. As the story begins, a brief segment in 1928 sets the scene for events that later unfold in 1931 in Shanghai.

Shanghai is experiencing the political turmoil afflicting China as a whole. The Japanese have just invaded Manchuria and are encroaching on additional territory to the south. At the same time, the Communist and Nationalist factions are competing for control of the government, and both have active spy networks. The Nationalists have recruited Rosalind Lang as an assassin to aid in their efforts. Known as Lady Fortune, she’s a lethal killing machine because experimental chemicals have rendered her impervious to all injuries except poison.

When Rosalind is paired with another agent named Orion to infiltrate a Japanese press operating in Shanghai, the two discover a dizzying array of plots and counterplots, all designed to gain control of a chemical concoction that can create a strain of super soldiers. As the spies try to prevent the formula from falling into the wrong hands, the novel examines the themes A Country Divided, Shifting Personas and Authentic Identity, and The Quest for Redemption.

Plot Summary

Rosalind Lang is a former member of the Scarlet Gang, one of the powerful crime families that once ruled Shanghai. This gang’s rival for power is the Russian gang known as the White Flowers. Rosalind’s romantic involvement with one of the Russians had disastrous consequences that led to death and destruction in the city. To atone for her sins, Rosalind allows the Nationalist faction to use her special talents. Years earlier, she was injected with experimental drugs that allow her body to heal wounds immediately and prevent her from aging, so she’ll perennially look 19. She has made a name for herself as a deadly assassin named Lady Fortune.

In 1931, her handler pairs her with another agent, Orion Hong. Like Rosalind, he’s attempting to make amends for past family tragedies. His father was accused of colluding with the Japanese, and the Hong family’s fortunes have since taken a downturn. Rosalind and Orion get off to a rocky start, though their shared adventures eventually break down the walls between them, and they fall in love. They’re tasked with figuring out who is injecting random people in Shanghai with deadly chemicals. Their search leads them to the Japanese-run Seagreen Press.

Aiding the spies in their efforts are several individuals who are spies and counterspies. Keeping the alliances and allegiances among the characters straight is difficult because their loyalties shift repeatedly. Eventually, Rosalind discovers that the chemical terrorist is Orion. He has become a sleeper agent controlled by his mother, Lady Hong, who is the mastermind behind the chemical plot. Her aim is not to kill but to create a formula powerful enough to produce a strain of unstoppable super soldiers. Despite Rosalind’s efforts, Orion’s mother abducts him to wreak future havoc for the benefit of the Japanese. As the novel ends, Rosalind receives a mysterious note from an unknown ally who promises to help her get Orion back. Presumably, this story arc will conclude in a future book in the series.