All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French

Hahn and Boxer Reimagined in The Harbour

Posted: June 4th, 2012 | No Comments »

I’m sure all readers of China Rhyming know the story of Emily Hahn and Charles Boxer and their affair in Hong Kong during the fall of the Colony. I’m equally sure that everyone has an opinion on Miss Hahn – they usually run from the obsessively admiring and ‘she can do no wrong’ to intense dislike. Personally, I veer depending on my mood. The one thing that was probably true about Hahn was that she never boring….

Now a writer called Francesca Brill has reimagined that relationship and the period in Hong Kong in a novel called The Harbour (and thankfully spelt properly too!!)

Blurb, as ever, below and an interview with the author about Hahn etc in Dymocks Hong Kong’s The Booklover newsletter.

Review

A haunting tale of love’s struggle to survive against all odds. A bold and beautifully written debut Mark Mills, author of The Savage Garden Gripping and moving … Francesca Brill is a very good writer indeed and I was sucked into the story until I was no longer aware of things going on around me, only of what was going on to the characters I had grown to love, and an era I knew very little about but which was instantly fascinating. High quality story-telling Simon Sebag Montefiore A fiercely imagined and deeply felt story of complicated wartime love. I could see every scene Rosie Alison, author of The Very Thought of You

Product Description

It is the summer of 1940, and for Stevie Steiber, a young American journalist in Hong Kong, the war raging in Europe is a world away. While longing to be taken seriously as a writer, she keeps her readers informed about society gossip from the Orient, her days at the Happy Valley race-course slipping into dangerous, hedonistic nights. Major Harry Field has been charged by Her Majesty’s Government with investigating suspicious activity inside the colony. He is intrigued by the recent arrival of Jishang, a sophisticated Chinese publisher who owns a controversial political magazine. But it is Stevie, Jishang’s outspoken, beautiful correspondent who really fascinates him. As the decadent British contingent remain oblivious to the cataclysm nearly upon them, the spy and the journalist are obsessively drawn to one another. And when the Japanese army seizes the island, they are faced with terrifying challenges. What will they sacrifice to stay alive, and how far will they go to protect each other? The Harbour is a stunning and utterly compelling debut about war, love and betrayal.

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