Fragrant Harbour by John Lanchester

"It's a good business rule for Asia. When in doubt, get a bigger gorilla"

I found it particularly annoying that the blurb on the back cover of this novel referred only to the story of a man, and yet the book contains two tales. The first narrator is female, the second male. Admittedly the book is heavily slanted on the male's story, as it takes up most of the book.

I had the bizarre sense that I'd seen the story as a movie before. I'm not sure if it has been adapted before, yet the story of Sister Maria and Tom Steward just seemed so familiar. My reason for initially buying this book last year - and its taken me a year to get to it - was the idea of a pre-read before my 3rd trip to Hong Kong. I'd found this list online  and was determined to source this one. It sat on my to be read pile for a veritable eon and yet, when I finally got to it, I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I've been so busy that I couldn't post a detailed review sooner.

Just like the city full of history and excitement, and currently the subject of some rather scary times, the book draws you in to its fragrant harbour through the tales of rather disparate people brought together by a thriving harbour town.

5 out of 5 junk rides are fun.