Set in China and Hong Kong from 1900 to 1969, this book features Patrick Galvin, ex-priest and missionary. The high-powered world of the "noble houses" and international finance are closed to Galvin, yet he has a secret in his past that surfaces and questions the meaning of his whole life.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A jewel of a novel in eloquence and plot,
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This review is from: The Iron Tree (Hardcover)
Martin Booth's prose is smooth, vivid, calming, and almost a mirror image of the island he describes in terms of knowledge and the impression of the story. The plot he weaves around a lone man (Patrick Galvin) who ventures into Hong Kong as a priest and emerges cleansed of his Christian beliefs and inducted into the customs of Hong Kong - yet this is not truly a book focused on religion, it does not point fingers at Christianity as being wrong or evil, simply a portrayal of one man who feels his god has "left him in the lurch".
This book will strike its most poignant chords with those who have lived/are living in Hong Kong, or those who have had some exposure to traditional Chinese culture and living. Martin Booth creates a character that, through flashbacks, teachings, and snaps of his current life in old age describes his transformation from a naive "gweilo" (a term roughly translated as "[white] foreigner") to one that has managed to adapt to his new surroundings and his new life. The Iron Tree is glaringly honest and simple to its core, with characters contrasting before the vibrant Hong Kong background. Even the firmly faithful and loving Father Callaghan, a priest Patrick becomes firm friends with, remains rooted in the realism of his world; for example "[after having restrained Patrick from saving a drowning man] "We're here to save the living, my son, Father Callaghan said, `not the dead. They've already gone to their gods and are beyond our touch. We're here for the abandoned, not the lost.' There is a secret guilt in Patrick's past that is not revealed until the logical ending of the book, where all loose ties in his past are tied neatly together as he finishes his story, and his straightforward voice is clear and unique, shining through every word of this expertly crafted prose. Overall, a powerful novel - I firmly recommend it, for it will leave your mind - if not your heart - in awe.
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