Born in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own, painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition-and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him.
Mary F. (Page) from CEDAR GLEN, CA wrote on 12/1/2006...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Novel based on disappearance of protagonists's parents in Japan when he was young. He travels to Japan to find out the truth about them, and does, and wishes he hadn't.
England, 1930s. Christopher Banks has become the country's most celebrated detective, his cases the talk of London society. Yet one unsolved crime has always haunted him: the mysterious disappearance of his parents in Old Shanghai when he was a small boy. Now, as the world lurches towards total war, Banks realizes that the time has come for him to return to the city of his childhood and at last solve the mystery - that only by doing so will the world be saved from the approaching catastrophe.
Moving between London and Shanghai of the inter-war years, When We Were Orphans is a story of remembrance, deception and the longing for home; of a childhood vision of the world surviving deep into adulthood, indelibly shaping and distorting a person's life.
Diana P. (statue86) from NEW YORK, NY wrote on 11/4/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Intriguing story, interesting details of old Shanghai. Very odd ending,not sure what to think.
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Jennifer H. (Azulita) from DAWSONVILLE, GA wrote on 11/6/2006...
I found this book very odd, not bad odd, but odd. I could never decide if I liked the main character or not. At times he seems sympathetic and at times not at all.