First published 2010
Will Truedale steps off the boat in Hong Kong in 1941, an Englishman ready for adventure in the colonial outpost. He meets Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian woman whose commanding presence captivates him completely. Their passionate affair unfolds against the backdrop of a city about to fall. The Japanese invasion shatters their world, bringing betrayal and cowardice to the Anglo-American community as war tests every relationship. Eleven years later, Clare Pendleton arrives as a newlywed provincial Englishwoman. The glittering high society seduces her, and she takes a position teaching piano to the daughter of wealthy Chinese couple Melodie and Victor Chen. She finds herself drawn to their enigmatic English chauffeur, a disillusioned man harboring secrets. Clare discovers that this mysterious driver is Will, whose strange behavior masks deep trauma connected to many survivors of the Japanese occupation. Her growing feelings for him pull her into the unresolved shadows of wartime Hong Kong.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Hong Kong
Period: 1941, 1952
416 pages · Paperback · Wydawnictwo Albatros
Content warnings: war