Sax Rohmer’s Daughter of Fu Manchu was originally serialized as Fu Manchu’s Daughter in twelve weekly installments of Collier’s from March 8 to May 24, 1930. It was published in book form the following year by Cassell in the UK and Doubleday in the US. Rohmer divides the novel into four sections comprising three chapters each. This week we examine the third part.
The section begins with Shan Greville’s delirious account of his and Sir Denis Nayland Smith’s foolhardy infiltration of a meeting of the Si-Fan’s Council of Seven while disguised as Mongolian monks. Sir Denis recognizes Ki-Ming among the attendees and fears the mandarin will likewise remember him if he gets a good look at his features beneath the monk’s cowl. Greville sees Madame Ingomar enter the room and recalls her true identity as Fah lo Suee, the daughter of Fu Manchu. Unable to understand the council’s conversation, the truth promptly reaches him when a gong sounds and the two Mongolian monks appear while all eyes turn upon Sir Denis and his companion.
Greville recovers consciousness to find himself in Chinese clothing in a foreign household. A Chinese surgeon attends him and denies any knowledge of Sir Denis or of a location known as el-Kharga. Greville collapses once more. When he recovers a second time, he is in the presence of Fah lo Suee who claims to be able to read his mind. She offers proof that she is aware of his love for Rima Barton. Greville is too weakened to realize he has been drugged and tricked into revealing information to his captor. He collapses again. Upon his next recovery, he finds Fah lo Suee speaking of her desire to rule Russia, the home of her mother and how, as a half-caste herself she is drawn to Greville. She speaks openly of how the Si-Fan is the New World Order that will unite the East under a single power and how she intends to be at the forefront of the New Wave that threatens to sweep the globe.
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