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The Harbour [Paperback]

Francesca Brill
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
RRP: �11.99
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Book Description

7 Jun 2012

It is the summer of 1940, and for Stevie Steiber, a young American journalist in Hong Kong, the war raging in Europe is a world away. While longing to be taken seriously as a writer, she keeps her readers informed about society gossip from the Orient, her days at the Happy Valley race-course slipping into dangerous, hedonistic nights.

Major Harry Field has been charged by Her Majesty's Government with investigating suspicious activity inside the colony. He is intrigued by the recent arrival of Jishang, a sophisticated Chinese publisher who owns a controversial political magazine. But it is Stevie, Jishang's outspoken, beautiful correspondent who really fascinates him.

As the decadent British contingent remain oblivious to the cataclysm nearly upon them, the spy and the journalist are obsessively drawn to one another. And when the Japanese army seizes the island, they are faced with terrifying challenges. What will they sacrifice to stay alive, and how far will they go to protect each other? The Harbour is a stunning and utterly compelling debut about war, love and betrayal.


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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (7 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 140881482X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1408814826
  • Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 15.4 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 316,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

A wonderfully sage and gripping novel based on the extraordinary real-life experiences of the journalist Emily Hahn in occupied Hong Kong during the second world war (Joanna Kavenna, Spectator, Books of the Year)

A haunting tale of love's struggle to survive against all odds. A bold and beautifully written debut (Mark Mills, author of The Savage Garden)

Gripping and moving ... Francesca Brill is a very good writer indeed and I was sucked into the story until I was no longer aware of things going on around me, only of what was going on to the characters I had grown to love, and an era I knew very little about but which was instantly fascinating. High quality story-telling (Simon Sebag Montefiore)

A fiercely imagined and deeply felt story of complicated wartime love. I could see every scene (Rosie Alison, author of The Very Thought of You)

The Harbour is an exceptional first novel: an intelligent romance immersed in its historical setting, and with a thread of steel running through it. Layers of race, role, sex, politics and sexual politics meld to make a much tougher, more interesting novel than a casual glance might suggest. We need more love stories like this (Louisa Young)

With shocking vividness Brill describes the violence of the occupation and sensitively explores the compromises, both moral and emotional, of people caught up in desperate situations. It is a romantic novel, but it's tough and tragic too, a gritty tale of passion and wartime endurance (Eithne Farry Daily Mail)

A tumultuous, passionate, fierce story of wartime love (Daily Express)

This is a powerful novel of depth and intensity, and one that subtly changes mood from cocktail- and opium-fuelled larks to despair and degradation (Sunday Times)

Book Description

A stunning and utterly captivating debut about war, love and betrayal in 1940s Hong Kong

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Made me laugh and cry 20 Dec 2012
By Dani A
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Harbour is a book about love, sorrow, desperation and war. Having been born in Hong Kong and now with the possibility of moving back there 20 years later, I've always had an affinity with the place. It was very refreshing to read a book about such a wonderful and diverse place with the historical context opening many eyes into the prominence of such a small island during the Second World War.
The story was lovely to follow making you really cheer on the heroine figure of Stevie. In some ways she reminds me of my mother: an aspiring journalist in Hong Kong but in the 1980s rather than 30s and 40s. Brill's story really felt very close to home for me and I would recommend this book to anyone who has an historical interest in Hong Kong and China. Or I'd just recommend it to anyone! Fantastic book!
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging and Compelling Debut Novel 2 Jun 2012
By Susie B TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Francesca Brill's engaging debut novel 'The Harbour' is set in Hong Kong where her story begins in the summer of 1940, when World War II is raging in Europe and the Chinese are preparing themselves for another conflict with their old enemy, Japan. In this unsettled moment in time we meet Stevie Steiber, a young, independent and very attractive American journalist who, while writing articles on society gossip to earn a living, longs to have a career as a serious writer with a voice that is listened to and respected. Stevie's lover, Jishang, is a wealthy and sophisticated Chinese publisher and the owner of a controversial political magazine, but although he is a successful businessman, he is under suspicion by the British Government, who send Major Harry Field to investigate Jishang and his business interests.

When Major Field pays a visit to Jishang in his apartment and unexpectedly meets Stevie, the mutual attraction between her and Harry is an almost palpable force and one that cannot be ignored by either of them, or indeed, by Jishang. When Jishang leaves Hong Kong temporarily for Shanghai, Harry and Stevie embark on an intensely passionate, but difficult love affair, complicated by the fact that Stevie is reluctant to commit herself wholeheartedly to Harry, and even further complicated as Harry is not a free man. When the threat of invasion by Japan increases, Harry manages to obtain a promise from Stevie that she will leave the island as soon as there is any real danger; however things move more quickly than imagined and when the Japanese army takes control of Hong Kong, Stevie is unable to leave as she had promised, and both she and Harry are faced with terrifying ordeals that leave neither of them unscathed.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A book you're sad to finish 7 July 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An excellently told story; I was soon thoroughly caught up in the plot, the superbly drawn characters, the love story, the references to the ambivalence to mothering, the detail which seemed to emerge more and more fully as the story developed - the realities of life pre-, then during wartime, that peaches were on the trees (their summer, our winter), the brutality of suppression, rape and imprisonment... all these and more were finely drawn with a fundamental understanding of her characters and what drove them - I particularly loved her sympathetic portrayal of Harry - a British officer, a soldier, yet a gentleman who paid for his humanity with 4 years of shame whilst in the prison camp- so moving, I fell in love with him myself!

Sometimes it felt that some words were incongruous to the period, for example, "knickers", and "teenager", however, they were small distractions amidst an engrossing story in which I think the characterisations were a particular strong point, for example the way Stevie grows up and learns exactly what love means, despite her cynicism.

This is really a very good book, I looked forward to getting back to it in the evenings, and hated finishing it despite my racing through to find out what happens to Stevie and Harry in the end (without peeking at the last page although I wanted to!). It will be on my Xmas list to give to all my friends, and I truly hope Francesca is already on her second novel.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Doesnt sit well as a book 25 Mar 2013
By R.J.K. TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine Review (What's this?)
I dont often say this but to me this book does not sit very well as a novel.

To me anyway it is too vast, too complex and too descriptive to be confined into pages and i became too frustrated reading it and though oh if only i could be sat in the movies watching it on the big screen.

I really think this should of been a screenplay and still think it can be, so if anyone is reading maybe you should think about converting it and sending it off because i think it would make a truly wonderful film, but for me, i thought the book was to confining.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting story. 9 Mar 2013
Format:Kindle Edition
An exciting story describing friendship and betrayal during the war. The empathy is very convincing and I loved it. Well Done.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Harbour 11 Jan 2013
By Susie A
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A really good read, I had several late nights when I just could not put this book down, I loved Francesca use of language, both colourfull and descriptive a truly enjoyable book.
It was fascinating to read about colonial life in Hong Kong and although this is a novel I felt that I was also getting a bite-sized insight into the history of the colony in the war years, of which I knew very little. I adored heroin Stevie, she was such a wild and free sprit, her energy just bounced off the page ready to take a stand and speak out, but staying true to herself. I can only imagine that the true life story this that lead to the writing of this book happened to an inspirational character.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars The Harbour
Miss Stevie Stiber is a journalist writing articles for an American woman's magazine. Both the upper class British residents and Chinese in Hong Kong provide her with interesting... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Mrs. Stella White
5.0 out of 5 stars The Harbour
A really good read and especially if you know the Isle of Man.
athriller that keeps you going to the end.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs Hazel Crees
5.0 out of 5 stars The harbour
Enjoyable read. Found it difficult to put down. I thought the characters were very real and believable. Let's have more
Published 2 months ago by Charity Norman
5.0 out of 5 stars The Harbour.
With a keen interest in the historical context of this novel, I found it to be a vivid and faithful description of Hong Kong, which in itself made me more inclined to trust the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Flickering Ember
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping stuff
This book started a bit slowly. It seemed interesting, but I thought it was going to be another of those lightweight romances - then it took a turn for the better, and now I cannot... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Violet Barnes
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
I started reading this, and at first I thought I wasn't going to like it. I don't usually like war stories, but, this was so well written, and it shocked me, I had to keep turning... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs J Farbrother
4.0 out of 5 stars The Harbour
A love story with the difference. Light and entertaining specially for people who can relate to Hong Kong and had close contacts with Far Eastern Cultures.
Published 5 months ago by WH
5.0 out of 5 stars High Praise For a First Novel
This novel is based on the life of journalist Emily Hahn who was living in occupied Hong Kong during the WW2. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. B. R. Good
4.0 out of 5 stars Love, Loyalty, Loss and Betrayal
I really enjoyed this book. Set in Hong Kong during WWII it is a riveting story of survival, the power of love and the price of loyalty. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Annaire
5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND EVOCOTIVE FIRST NOVEL
World War Two is raging as the story opens in Hong Kong. This
is an absolute page turner of a novel. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. C. Swarfield
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