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On Borrowed Time
On Borrowed Time is set in Hong Kong and Shanghai over the period 1996/1997 - including the handover of Hong Kong to China. The novel explores the choices that people have to make; in particular between doing what is easy and what is right.
In Hong Kong Emma Janssen discovers the truth behind the death of her brother four years earlier. Meanwhile, in Shanghai, a PhD student meets a woman with an unusual degree of interest in his research. These storylines converge at the time of the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and Emma finds that she has to choose between revenge or the future happiness and safety of both herself and those close to her.
While being a work of fiction, On Borrowed Time is rooted in the author's own experiences of living and working in Hong Kong from 1993 to 2010, in particular the final years of British rule and the transfer of sovereignty back to China.
In Hong Kong Emma Janssen discovers the truth behind the death of her brother four years earlier. Meanwhile, in Shanghai, a PhD student meets a woman with an unusual degree of interest in his research. These storylines converge at the time of the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and Emma finds that she has to choose between revenge or the future happiness and safety of both herself and those close to her.
While being a work of fiction, On Borrowed Time is rooted in the author's own experiences of living and working in Hong Kong from 1993 to 2010, in particular the final years of British rule and the transfer of sovereignty back to China.
366 pages, Paperback
Published January 11, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 11, 2021
In Shanghai, Kwok-wah is slowly finding his feet. He forgoes doing a PhD in America, choosing to join Professor Ye in studying comparative algorithms in mobile data transmission. It was taking him a while to settle in, but playing basketball with the guys in his dorm was helping him with the language and not being seen as an alien.
The first time that Emma met Sam was when she became a temp at his office. He was an up and coming lawyer at the McShane Adams firm. She is there to cover for a short period of time and demonstrates that she is a cool efficient worker. Everyone wants to know who this new blonde in the Hong Kong office is, especially when he catches up with Kate and Rob for her birthday.
Emma headed out of the office to meet up with her friend, Alice, who had finally persuaded her to join a human rights group she was involved with. There she meets the small number of members that they have, including a tall Chinese lad called, Liang-bao. He had a good English accent and when Emma questioned him on it, he said that he had completed a masters in England and lived in Stepney.
Alice happens to be Kwok-wah’s cousin too and he is finding in Shanghai that he has attracted the attention of another student. She is a tall slender American-Chinese girl who is studying building sciences. He keeps seeing her around and one day she stops to say hello; it makes him miss the basket he is aiming for! They slowly get to know each other better as they spend more and more time together.
Emma is also in Hong Kong to see if she can find out more about her brother’s death in Hong Kong a few years earlier. He had been killed in a traffic accident and the guy jailed for his death had just been released, but Emma didn’t believe that he was the person really responsible. Susan is not just interested in Kwok-wah she also wants to find out more about the guy visiting the professor he works for. Slowly these six peoples lives become more intertwined as the story heads back to Hong Kong.
I am not a big reader of fiction and it has been a long time since I have read a thriller. I had read Hall’s book of short stories that were set in Macau and enjoyed this one, hence why I decided to give this go too. I must say that I liked it, it is a reasonable plot as he manages to tangle the six characters lives up as the story builds to the end. I liked the setting most of all. I have been fortunate to go to Hong Kong briefly a few times and he got the character of the city spot on, with the chaotic mash-up of London and China that it feels like. Worth a read if you like a different sort of thriller.
The first time that Emma met Sam was when she became a temp at his office. He was an up and coming lawyer at the McShane Adams firm. She is there to cover for a short period of time and demonstrates that she is a cool efficient worker. Everyone wants to know who this new blonde in the Hong Kong office is, especially when he catches up with Kate and Rob for her birthday.
Emma headed out of the office to meet up with her friend, Alice, who had finally persuaded her to join a human rights group she was involved with. There she meets the small number of members that they have, including a tall Chinese lad called, Liang-bao. He had a good English accent and when Emma questioned him on it, he said that he had completed a masters in England and lived in Stepney.
Alice happens to be Kwok-wah’s cousin too and he is finding in Shanghai that he has attracted the attention of another student. She is a tall slender American-Chinese girl who is studying building sciences. He keeps seeing her around and one day she stops to say hello; it makes him miss the basket he is aiming for! They slowly get to know each other better as they spend more and more time together.
Emma is also in Hong Kong to see if she can find out more about her brother’s death in Hong Kong a few years earlier. He had been killed in a traffic accident and the guy jailed for his death had just been released, but Emma didn’t believe that he was the person really responsible. Susan is not just interested in Kwok-wah she also wants to find out more about the guy visiting the professor he works for. Slowly these six peoples lives become more intertwined as the story heads back to Hong Kong.
I am not a big reader of fiction and it has been a long time since I have read a thriller. I had read Hall’s book of short stories that were set in Macau and enjoyed this one, hence why I decided to give this go too. I must say that I liked it, it is a reasonable plot as he manages to tangle the six characters lives up as the story builds to the end. I liked the setting most of all. I have been fortunate to go to Hong Kong briefly a few times and he got the character of the city spot on, with the chaotic mash-up of London and China that it feels like. Worth a read if you like a different sort of thriller.
December 2, 2020
What a well-constructed book! We have multiple storylines, which allows us to piece together each character's motivations and contemplate how they may all intertwine. When they do, it is extremely satisfying.
You will get a real sense of Hong Kong and how familiar the author is with the setting - all senses will engage with the food, the setting, and the normal activities which locals may do at the weekend.
I would have liked to stay with some characters longer - but can understand why we don't, as this is already an impressive feat of a debut novel, at its current length!
There is something for everyone here and could serve as a thrilling holiday read - or lack of holiday to transport you to another country in your home - or a historical read, for people who want to understand more about the Chinese occupation of Hong Kong and what that means for the city today.
You will get a real sense of Hong Kong and how familiar the author is with the setting - all senses will engage with the food, the setting, and the normal activities which locals may do at the weekend.
I would have liked to stay with some characters longer - but can understand why we don't, as this is already an impressive feat of a debut novel, at its current length!
There is something for everyone here and could serve as a thrilling holiday read - or lack of holiday to transport you to another country in your home - or a historical read, for people who want to understand more about the Chinese occupation of Hong Kong and what that means for the city today.
January 8, 2021
I absolutely adored Graeme’s collection of short stories, The Goddess of Macau last year (it even made my Top Reads of the Year list) and so when I was asked if I would be interested in reading this, it really was a no-brainer.
On Borrowed Time takes place in a dual time line, before and at the time of the handover of Hong Kong to China. At the times this novel was set I was leaving primary school/starting secondary school and in all honesty, I have the very vaguest of recollections of world news at the time and even now, I can’t say that I know too much about the politics behind it all. I did wonder if that would hinder my enjoyment of the novel, however just as with The Goddess of Macau (which was also completely out of my geographical comfort zone) the author has such a wonderful way of imparting information through the narrative, that I didn’t feel at all out of the loop. With such a complex subject, it’s an impressive skill to be able to deliver both story and information in a way where each is complimentary to the other without the descriptive portion outweighing the plot.
You can tell throughout that the author has a deep love for Hong Kong. the sense of place is all encompassing and despite never even coming close to visiting to the country, I felt as if I was there. Graeme has a talent for creating believable, well rounded characters, and (just as he did with his short stories) is able to establish them quickly on the page. I find his writing style incredibly soothing, I’m able to relax into it and as a result a find that I’m devouring pages at a time.
It’s a novel that straddles across several genres (political, historical, romance, thriller, espionage….) without falling wholly into any of them. It wasn’t the breakneck thriller style novel I was expecting, it’s far more subtle and with that it feels much more real, making the events of the novel less pure ‘entertainment’ and more something that you could feasibly see yourself reading about in the newspaper. It feels a completely respectful representation of a difficult, controversial time in the not too distant past and I found myself utterly entranced and invested, with time disappearing as I read on.
One of the most successful elements of this novel are the characters, their interwoven stories and the wide range of issues they represent whether they be Emma and Sam, the Brits in Hong Kong forced to assess their future in a changing landscape, Kwok-wah the promising student going against the concerns of his family to pursue further education in Shanghai, Alice and her forbidden romance or the tragic story of Granny Sun. There is so much packed into this novel.
Compelling, wonderfully written and kept my unwavering attention throughout. I cannot wait to read more from Graeme Hall.
On Borrowed Time takes place in a dual time line, before and at the time of the handover of Hong Kong to China. At the times this novel was set I was leaving primary school/starting secondary school and in all honesty, I have the very vaguest of recollections of world news at the time and even now, I can’t say that I know too much about the politics behind it all. I did wonder if that would hinder my enjoyment of the novel, however just as with The Goddess of Macau (which was also completely out of my geographical comfort zone) the author has such a wonderful way of imparting information through the narrative, that I didn’t feel at all out of the loop. With such a complex subject, it’s an impressive skill to be able to deliver both story and information in a way where each is complimentary to the other without the descriptive portion outweighing the plot.
You can tell throughout that the author has a deep love for Hong Kong. the sense of place is all encompassing and despite never even coming close to visiting to the country, I felt as if I was there. Graeme has a talent for creating believable, well rounded characters, and (just as he did with his short stories) is able to establish them quickly on the page. I find his writing style incredibly soothing, I’m able to relax into it and as a result a find that I’m devouring pages at a time.
It’s a novel that straddles across several genres (political, historical, romance, thriller, espionage….) without falling wholly into any of them. It wasn’t the breakneck thriller style novel I was expecting, it’s far more subtle and with that it feels much more real, making the events of the novel less pure ‘entertainment’ and more something that you could feasibly see yourself reading about in the newspaper. It feels a completely respectful representation of a difficult, controversial time in the not too distant past and I found myself utterly entranced and invested, with time disappearing as I read on.
One of the most successful elements of this novel are the characters, their interwoven stories and the wide range of issues they represent whether they be Emma and Sam, the Brits in Hong Kong forced to assess their future in a changing landscape, Kwok-wah the promising student going against the concerns of his family to pursue further education in Shanghai, Alice and her forbidden romance or the tragic story of Granny Sun. There is so much packed into this novel.
Compelling, wonderfully written and kept my unwavering attention throughout. I cannot wait to read more from Graeme Hall.
February 3, 2021
On Borrowed Time, by Graeme Hall, is a novel that took me on a journey between Hong Kong and Shanghai without need of a passport. I first read Hall’s work in his short story collection The Goddess of Macau and I was intrigued by his ability to create characters with such depth in a compact space. I was excited to receive his debut novel and see how this would translate into a larger narrative. Hall weaves a tale full of intrigue and all of those details that immersed me in his shorter stories.
Read the full review at Juliette Writes
Read the full review at Juliette Writes
January 15, 2021
The story is written in multiple points of view but the writer never showed his attachment to any of the characters. Graeme used some Hong Kong phrases(e.g. mo nan tai) to give the reader a flavour of the place. The ratio of flow of the story and description is so balanced that you can't skip anything in this book.
Read my full review here: https://kmgreads.blogspot.com/2021/01...
Read my full review here: https://kmgreads.blogspot.com/2021/01...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews