The Distant Land of my Father

Bo Caldwell

A family saga centred on Anna Schoene, growing up in a life of privilege in the expatriate circles of pre-war Shanghai. Her father, Joseph, a driven businessman, has made a fortune in the booming economy of the city he loves and calls home by taking risks and looking out for the main chance. When war threatens, Anna and her mother, Eve, head back to the States, while Joe, mistakenly believing that his contacts will protect him, is interned by the Japanese. A return to Shanghai after the war to pick up the threads of family life fails; once again mother and daughter return to the States and Joe is again thrown into prison, this time by the Communists. Anna, growing up in California, seems fated to lose all contact with the father she loves. Then one day, when Anna is an adult with a family of her own, Joe reappears...

Might sound schmaltzy, but is anything but. This is a fabulous piece of work, complex yet thoroughly believable, which never sinks into tacky sentimentality. It deals with big themes: love, life, betrayal and-above all-forgiveness and compassion. It asks questions about what we expect of our families and what we expect of life, and, above all, it portrays in all its complexities the love between a father and his daughter. Joe, Eve and especially Anna are superbly drawn characters, and the way in which Ms Caldwell subtly develops Anna from innocent six-year-old through tetchy teen to proud mother is outstanding. The secondary characters are equally well portrayed. Ms Caldwell also brings pre-war Shanghai to life and makes it a character in its own right. The sights, the din and the smells, the beauty and the squalor are depicted so convincingly as to make you feel part of the hustle and bustle. I'm going to pay the author a big tribute here: her Shanghai is the best portrayal of a city I've read since Dostoyevsky's St Petersburg in Crime and Punishment.

In short, this is my favourite type of novel: a literary page-turner. The narrative momentum never flags; I guarantee you will have trouble putting it down, although there are times when you'll have to, if only to keep your emotions in check. It's going to be the best novel I read this year, or indeed that I've read for several years. In fact I am tempted to find space for it amongst my Top Ten Novels of All Time, it is that good. I cannot recommend it highly enough.