In the wild highlands of southern China, a tribe of fisher folk must venture daily on to a fearsome river. Into their world of struggle and superstition arrives a young couple, John and Grace Gerrard. Raised among the teeming streets of Hong Kong and Canton, they now confront a culture so alien that it challenges their love - and their lives. John is soon enthralled by the fisher folk, swept up by their dark gods and the invigorating dangers of the river. Meanwhile, Grace's missionary work only incites mistrust. Hoping to reconcile her Western religion with her Asian blood, she begins to develop an extraordinary theory...But her insights provoke a murderous conspiracy. Parted by their enemies and the unforgiving river, John and Grace must find each other across the mountains and rapids of China's secret heart.
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A House by the River is the second novel from Sid Smith, the winner of the 2001 Whitbread First Novel Award. Like Something like a House, this new novel is set in China, a country never visited by the author. It tells the story of missionaries John and Grace Gerrard, who are sent to a primitive fishing settlement on the banks of a mighty river where boats are more precious than any dwelling and loneliness poisons the heart. The conflict between East and West is portrayed as a clash between the ancient Chinese Gods served by shaman Jivu Lanu and the river people and the Christian God served by the Gerrards. Smith mixes thrilling action and absorbing ideas as Grace provokes a murderous conspiracy and John is claimed by China's ancient Gods - events that are nearly fatal for both of them.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Sid Smith spent the first seven years of his working life in labouring jobs. Since then he has hitchhiked 9,000 miles around the US, acquired a pilot's licence for paragliders, and been married with full Shinto rites at a shrine in southern Japan. His first novel, Something Like A House, won the Whitbread First Novel Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. A House By The River is his second novel.
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