Fragrant Harbour is the story of four people whose intertwined lives span Asia's last seventy years. Tom Stewart leaves England to seek his fortune, and finds it in running Hong Kong's best hotel. Sister Maria is a beautiful and uncompromising Chinese nun whom Stewart meets on the boat. Dawn Stone is an English journalist who becomes the public face of money and power and big business. Matthew Ho is a young Chinese entrepreneur whose life has been shaped by painful choices made long before his birth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'There's a depth and emotional candour here that, long after you have finished the book, is hard to forget... Fragrant Harbour is really a love letter to Hong Kong, redolent with the bright shine of romance and nostalgia for the indefinable essence of a place.' Observer 'Provides both the detail and panorama of a fascinating city... it has a cracking emotional thrust.' Financial Times
From the Inside Flap
Fragrant Harbour is the story of four people whose intertwined lives span Asia?s last 70 years. Tom Stewart leaves England just before it is hit by the Great Depression to seek his fortune, and finds it in running Hong Kong?s best hotel. Sister Maria is a beautiful and uncompromising Chinese nun whom Stewart meets on the boat out from England; their friendship spans decades and changes both their lives. Dawn Stone is an English journalist who becomes the public face of money and power and big business. Matthew Ho is a young Chinese entrepreneur whose life has been shaped by painful choices made long before his birth, and who is now facing his own difficulties, and opportunities, in the twenty-first century.
The complacency of colonial life in the 1930s; the horrors of the Japanese occupation during the Second World War; the post-war boom and transformation of Hong Kong into a laboratory of capitalism at its most cut-throat; the growth of the Triads; the handover of the city to the Chinese ? all these are present in Fragrant Harbour, an epic novel of one of the world?s great cities. The novel?s shape and scale, its emotional power and beauty, make it John Lanchester?s finest book to date. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
The complacency of colonial life in the 1930s; the horrors of the Japanese occupation during the Second World War; the post-war boom and transformation of Hong Kong into a laboratory of capitalism at its most cut-throat; the growth of the Triads; the handover of the city to the Chinese ? all these are present in Fragrant Harbour, an epic novel of one of the world?s great cities. The novel?s shape and scale, its emotional power and beauty, make it John Lanchester?s finest book to date. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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More About the Author
John Lanchester is the author of the novels The Debt to Pleasure, Mr. Phillips, and Fragrant Harbor; and a memoir, Family Romance. He is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Observer, and The Daily Telegraph, among others. Among several other prizes, including the Whitbread and Hawthornden Awards, Lanchester was awarded the 2008 E.M. Forster Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in London.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning,
By
This review is from: Fragrant Harbour (Mass Market Paperback)
Seeing that the only previous reviewer gave it one star and I absolutely loved the book, I just had to write a review to set the record straight:This book has everything: It's very suspenseful and moving, beautifully written and I loved the structure: Four parts, each with a different narrator and different length. All interconnected, but to various degrees. When the first part finished and I realised that the next part was starting with a new character in a different period, I felt regret as I didn't want to leave the previous part. But after only a few lines I was roped in to the new story. I was amazed how different this book is compared to the previous novels by Lanchester ('The Debt To Pleasure' & 'Mr Phillips'). In my opinion he's getting better and better. Looking forward to his fourth. PS: I also enjoyed James Clavell's novel 'Tai-Pan' very much. If you're interested in a novel about how Hong Kong started, read that.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Noteable?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Fragrant Harbour (Mass Market Paperback)
The New York Times selected this as a notable book, but one wonders why. Cardboard characters and flat dialogue here. Starts out promising, but quickly becomes a tedious read. The author had an excess of riches to work with..afterall, Hong Kong is teeming with a richness in color & history, but he fails to bring it to life.Save your money and skip this dud.
2.0 out of 5 stars
poor writing,
By Nicholas Ball (HK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fragrant Harbour (Mass Market Paperback)
A couple of interesting points about HK, but very cliched. An educated amah surprise surprise!Characters poorly developed. Dismal dialogue. Structure is good but the underlying story nothing special. There are 4 parts: - Part 1 is rubbish - you will end it hating the character and the author too. - Part 2 is much better - Part 3 - just a plot linking ploy - Part 4 - a decent ending. Could have been so much better.
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