A rare example of contemporary Chinese crime and thriller fiction. Based in Shanghai in 1931 it provides us with an invaluable historical perspective and sense of period on both Chinese politics of the time and an exotic landscape teeming with intrigue. An important Nationalist politician is shot on his return from Hong Kong, and Leng, his beautiful wife disappears. Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer is entranced by Leng's beauty and is drawn to the affair, only to uncover the treachery of his own mistress, White Russian Helene, an arms dealer linked to a terrorists with a strong connection to the assassination. Xiao Bai brings a whole world to life in colourful ways as well as evoking the complex networks of politics, passion and war. Literary noir well worth a look. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
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An acclaimed Chinese writer makes his English-language debut with this heart-stopping literary noir, a richly atmospheric tale of espionage and international intrigue, set in Shanghai in 1931-an electrifying, decadent world of love, violence and betrayal filled with femme fatales, criminals, revolutionaries and spies. A boat arrives in Shanghai harbour, carrying an important official in the Nationalist Party and his striking wife, Leng. Amid the raucous sound of firecrackers, gunshots ring out; an assassin has shot the official and then himself. Leng disappears in the chaos. Hsueh, a Franco-Chinese photographer aboard the same boat, became captivated by Leng's beauty and unconcealed misery. Now, she is missing. But Hsueh is plagued by a mystery closer to home: he suspects his White Russian lover, Therese, is unfaithful. Why else would she disappear so often on their recent vacation? When he's arrested for mysterious reasons in the French Concession and forced to become a police collaborator, he realizes that in the seamy, devious world of Shanghai, no one is who they appear to be. His aptitude for espionage draws Hsueh into a dark underworld of mobsters, smugglers, anarchists and assassins. Torn between Therese and Leng, he vows to protect them both. As the web of intrigue tightens around him, Hsueh plays a dangerous game, hoping to stay alive.
French Concession features in the following genres: Crime and Mystery, Thriller and Suspense, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations
French Concession is available in Paperback, Hardback
French Concession was written by Xiao Bai and published by Oneworld Publications
French Concession has 351 pages
£8.09
