On Java Road

Osborne, Lawrence

£9.99

After 20 indolent years as an ex-pat reporter in Hong Kong, Englishman Adrian Gyle has almost nothing to show for it. The party gave no sign of ending: nights burned away in private clubs and restaurants; days were spent on laughably easy assignments. But now the streets are choked with students demanding democratic freedoms, and the old world begins to fall apart. Watching from the skyrises overlooking the protests is Adrian’s old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, who has begun a reckless affair with Rebecca, a leading pro-democracy protestor, full of idealism and reeking of tear gas. The couple are dancing over the abyss, playing for time, and Adrian is drawn into their clandestine romance with a mixture of complicity and envy. But when Rebecca disappears and Jimmy goes to ground, Adrian unearths the familiar old urge to investigate, and personal loyalties evaporate overnight.

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Publish Date: 03/08/2023
ISBN: 9781529114959 Category:

Description

A veteran British journalist living in Hong Kong investigates the disappearance of a student protestor amidst the pro-democracy demonstrations in this unsettling new novel from the acclaimed author of The Forgiven

After twenty years as an ex-pat reporter in Hong Kong, Adrian Gyle has almost nothing to show for it. But now the streets are choked with students demanding democratic freedoms, and the old world is beginning to fall apart.

Adrian’s old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, has begun a reckless affair with Rebecca, a leading pro-democracy protestor. But when Rebecca disappears and Jimmy goes to ground, Adrian unearths the familiar old urge to investigate. Pursuing Rebecca’s ghost to Java Road where the city’s dead congregate, Adrian re-assembles her final hours – as he struggles to distinguish between delusion and reality.

‘Osborne’s whodunnit is wrapped in an atmospheric portrait both of a particular place and time, and of the creation and destruction of a friendship. Highly recommended’ GUARDIAN

‘Osborne goes from strength to strength’ LIONEL SHRIVER

‘Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can’ DEBORAH LEVY, FINANCIAL TIMES

‘If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely’ LEE CHILD, NEW YORK TIMES

Additional information

Weight 170 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 15 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

229

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K