"This is an erotica book, not a porn book so if you are looking for lots of measurements, non-stop sex, and vulgar words, don't buy this book.  The book is utterly surprising in the way it turns out, and a real treat.  There are many, many naughty elements, but it also becomes a historical journey, and surely is one of those books that you just can't put down.  It occurs during the 1800's, and has the reader utterly engrossed in the exploits of Thomas the young soldier, and actually backing the Taiping warriors to prosper by the end.  The book does not contain end to end sex scenes, but when they do come they are exquisite and original.  The erotic nature of the novel is certainly there but I found the love story, especially in the second half, to be a really memorable tale.  This is the way erotic novels should be."  -  BooksErotic.com

"Mistress of the East is written with impressive sensitivity and attention to detail....A story of doomed love that is both erotic and touching." - Quality SM Book Reviews

"Barrett introduces readers to Lieutenant Thomas Rowley, American adventurer, who's gone to China. Rowley is captured by fierce amazonian Chinese women warriors who have sex slavery in store for him. The plot twists of his transformation from soldier to Chinese whore are literary, livid, and lewd under Barrett's sly pseudo-Victorian style." - On the Bookshelf - Clean Sheets Erotica Magazine

I have always been fascinated by the period in which East first met West in China in any real numbers and the period of the 1850's and 1860's is what interests me in Chinese history. That is why I have written so many projects set in that period, including Hangman's Point, a novel set in Hong Kong and China in 1857, Fragrant Harbour, a Broadway-style musical, also set in Hong Kong in 1857, Dragon Slayer, a novella (and filmscript) set in Vietnam in 1968 and China in 1857, Bones of the Chinamen, a play and also a novella set in 1862 China, and now Mistress of the East, an erotic novel set in China in 1862.

I guess the best way to describe Mistress of the East would be to say that it is as if a story of several Chinese Emmanuelles with whips segues into Dr. Zhivago with overtones of Longfellow's Evangeline.  It was fun to research and to write and, of course, I had already much of the research completed as I have plenty of material on China set in that period from researching in libraries around the world, as well as public record offices, missionary societies, etc.  I also wanted to combine an erotic novel with a genuine love story, one, I hoped, that would be moving to the reader.  I'm not certain if there has ever been a genuine love story and erotic story combined.  Anyway, that was one of my main goals.  In fact, my first title for the book was: A Love Story: The China Memoirs of Thomas Rowley, Esq. It seems to be selling well and I hope people enjoy it. - Dean Barrett, Bangkok, 2007