A Choice of Evils

The sweep of this epic novel moves from the Sino-Japanese war, when Japan annexed Manchuria in the early 1930s until the end of the Second World War. The story of these tumultuous years is told through the lives of a disparate group of characters, people in flight from both political tyranny and themselves. A young Russian woman émigré is caught between her complex love affair with a British journalist and an overwhelming passion for a liberal minded Japanese diplomat who dares to stand by his conscience against all odds. An Indian nationalist working for Japanese intelligence, a Chinese professor with communist sympathies, an American missionary doctor and a Japanese soldier are all brought together by the monstrous dislocation of war, and the need to stand witness to humanity’s basest acts. Enmeshed in a savage world beyond their control, each character turns to the deepest part of themselves to find a way to survive.