Description
Book SynopsisA stunning and utterly captivating debut about war, love and betrayal in 1940s Hong Kong''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'' Simon Sebag Montefiore
''A powerful novel of depth and intensity'' Sunday Times_________________Hong Kong, 1940. For the reckless young journalist Stevie Steiber, days at the Happy Valley racecourse slip into dangerous, hedonistic nights. Meanwhile Major Harry Field, a British Intelligence Officer, is investigating the recent arrival of Wu Jishang, a sophisticated publisher who owns a controversial political magazine. But it is Stevie, Jishang's close colleague and lover, who really fascinates Harry. As the British community continues to party despite the looming threat of war, the two are obsessively drawn into a dark passion. And when
Trade ReviewThis is a powerful novel of depth and intensity, and one that subtly changes mood from cocktail- and opium-fuelled larks to despair and degradation * Sunday Times *
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 *
With shocking vividness Brill describes the violence of the occupation and sensitively explores the compromises, both moral and emotional, of people caught up in desperate situations. It is a romantic novel, but it's tough and tragic too, a gritty tale of passion and wartime endurance -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *
A wonderfully sage and gripping novel * Spectator Books of the Year *
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 *
A tumultuous, passionate, fierce story of wartime love * Daily Express *
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 *
The Harbour is an exceptional first novel: an intelligent romance immersed in its historical setting, and with a thread of steel running through it. Layers of race, role, sex, politics and sexual politics meld to make a much tougher, more interesting novel than a casual glance might suggest. We need more love stories like this * Louisa Young *
