The Lost Century

"The Lost Century" by Larissa Lai, published by Arsenal Pulp Press. Lambda Literary Award winner Larissa Lai (The Tiger Flu) returnswith a sprawling historical novel about war, colonialism and queer experience duringJapan's occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. On the eve of the return of the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong toChina in 1997, young Ophelia asks her peculiar great-aunt Violet about theJapanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II and the disappearance ofher uncle Theo. From Violet, she learns the story of her grandmother, Emily. Emily's marriage--three times--to her father's mortal enemy causes a stiramong three very different Hong Kong Chinese families, as well as among the youngcricketers at the Hong Kong Cricket Club, who've just witnessed King EdwardVIII's abdication to marry Wallis Simpson. But the class and race pettiness ofthe scandal around Emily's marriage is violently disrupted by the JapaneseImperial Army's invasion of Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941, which plunges thecolony into a landscape of violence none of its inhabitants escape from unscathed, least of all Emily. When her situation becomes dire, Violet, along with a crewof unlikely cosmopolitans determines to rescue Emily from the wrath of theperson she thought loved her the most, her husband, Tak-Wing. In the middle ofit all, a strange match of timeless Test cricket unfolds, in which the ball hasan agency all its own. With great heart, The Lost Century explores the intersections of Asianrelations, queer Asian history, underground resistance, the violence of war, andthe rise of modern China― a sprawling novel of betrayal, epic violence andintimate passions. Book details: 187 pages, published 2022. Order now on BookShops.in with fast, reliable delivery across India.