Christopher Banks, a celebrated detective in 1930s London, remains haunted by the unexplained disappearance of his parents in the International Settlement of Shanghai decades earlier. Convinced that his professional success has prepared him to solve his own family tragedy, he returns to a city on the brink of Sino-Japanese warfare. His investigation morphs into a surreal odyssey through the war-torn Chapei district, where his childhood memories collide with the chaotic violence of the present. He navigates a landscape where personal delusion obscures the geopolitical realities of the opium trade and impending global conflict.
This novel is for readers who value psychological examinations of unreliable narration and the fragility of memory. It appeals to those interested in how individuals construct private mythologies to cope with trauma and displacement. Readers walk away with an understanding of how nostalgia can distort objective reality and how personal identity is often tethered to unresolved past events. It provides a look at the disconnect between an individual’s internal logic and the indifferent progression of world history.
- Published
- 2000
- Language
- EN
