John Lanchester has, I believe, written four novels to date, all markedly different from each other in tone, and three of them ('The Debt to Pleasure', 'Capital' and this one) would all rank among my all time favourites. 'Fragrant Harbour' is a superb novel spanning seventy years in the history of Hong Kong, told through the differing perspectives of four principal characters who each recount their own story. Tom Stewart's narrative forms the backbone of the novel and tells the story of a young man, born in Kent in 1913, who decides to try his luck in Hong Kong. While on the voyage he meets two Eurasian nuns (Sisters Benedicta and Maria) and various British men en route to pursue careers in the Far East. Following an argument between one of the other passengers and Sister Maria, a wager is held to test whether Tom can be taught the rudiments of Cantonese within the time span of the voyage. This is to prove immensely useful for him when he lands in Hong Kong and gradually determines to spend the rest of his life there. His idyll is interrupted by the onset of the Second World War and the Japanese invasion. Tom survives, and returns to Hong Kong where he becomes a prosperous hotelier.Meanwhile Sister Maria has been working for the various Catholic missions spread throughout the colony and also in mainland China. Her path continues to cross with that of Tom.The third character to provide a narrative is Dawn Stone, an ambitious British journalist who comes out to Hong Kong shortly before it returned to Chinese rule. She begins by investigating the origins of the wealth of the richest members of Hong Kong society, working on the premise that with such billionaires the interesting question is where the first millions come from (- the latter wealth is easy to generate in relatively open and legal ways, but how did they get their start-up capital?).The fourth narrative is that of Matthew Ho, a thrusting young entrepreneur who makes a cameo appearance early on when he sits next top Dawn Stone on her first flight to the colony.I recognise that this description might make it all sound rather cumbersome, not to say predictable. Lanchester, however, is a master storyteller and he succeeds in uniting all the various threads of the story with seamless ease, and evokes the reader's sympathy for all of his principal characters. He also manages to impart a huge amount about the history of Hong Kong, though this never impairs the flow of the novel.
I bought this when I was in Hong Kong this summer because I was looking for a novel that would give me an overview of the city's history and tell a compelling story as well. I did learn a great deal about Hong Kong from the 1930s through the 1990's, but the story was certainly not compelling though much of it was interesting. The tale is told through the voices of four different characters- a young woman from England who's climbing hand over fist up the career ladder, a Chinese businessman on the brink of failure, a nun, and a man from England who manages and then owns his own hotel. Their stories all intertwine, and the choices they ultimately make raise questions about integrity, responsibility and compromise. Some of the characters are more well-developed than others, but Lanchester seems to shy away from digging deeply into the psyche of any of them, which left me feeling unsatisfied and made me wonder what I was missing since novel was included on the New York Times Notable Books list for 2002.
What do You think about Fragrant Harbor (2003)?
This is, in some ways, a really difficult book to review. Having lived in Hong Kong for four years, I got a frission of recognition and excitement when - particularly in the first section - the book seems to have been a carbon copy of the time I went through. This makes it difficult to separate the book from my own personal memories of my time in Hong Kong. However, the second section is almost like a history lesson of Hong Kong and again, was interesting just to see how the city had come together to be the place I knew.It begins to unravel by the third section, however. The plot twist involving two of the major characters contains two main issues - firstly, it doesn't really ring true for the characters and secondly, it's an example of the author keeping information from the reader just to create a twist. The final section is probably the weakest and drags the book down - it just reads like a slightly stilted telling of a business deal and the most interesting section. The most interesting part would be how the grandfather reacts to the new business deal, but this is not included within the book. Also, the book has the problem that it is not really about the Chinese experience of Hong Kong but how the Western world viewed it.I would recommend it to anyone who has lived in Hong Kong, but not as a book, more as an aide-memoire for the time they lived in the city.
—Malcolmaffleck
This book was not that easy to begin, but it's getting more exciting if you can endure the first few chapters (and the first character). I have to salute the author to give me quite a surprise towards the end of the book (there was a hint in the beginning but I totally missed it), and I found myself getting more eager to finish the book - to find about the ending. The ending is not a fairy-tale-like ending. But it made me reflect about... that is how life goes. This is a good book, good story, but perhaps not for everyone.
—Natalia
Enjoyable, though typical of Lanchester's work, it finishes without resolving outstanding plot points. Set against a backdrop of colonial Hong Kong, Fragrant Harbor tells the story of how a single decision - or lack of action - may have a long-lasting impact. The book is divided into sections based upon the protagonist. At first, the sections seem unlinked, however by the end, the three main characters are interlinked by a fourth, shadowy figure who remains mostly in the background. Read this if you enjoy finely detailed characters and descriptions of the landscape. If you prefer a plot with a distinct resolution, perhaps put it aside.
—Nicole
