K: The Art of Love, By Hong Ying (Trs Nicky Harman and Harry Zhao)
East meets West for erotic thriller in pre-war Beijing
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Hong Ying's svelte erotic thriller is based on the true story of the Bloomsbury poet Julian Bell and his affair with a married writer, Lin Cheng, in 1930s Beijing.
Bell – flame-haired, arrogant, impetuous – travels to China in search of an outlet for his left-wing politics, but finds himself immersed in the country's more arcane traditions, as Lin introduces him to the ancient Daoist arts of love. This is a very readable novel, skillfully crafted and gracefully rendered into English. (The abundant sex scenes do have a tendency to lapse into cliché, though, generally of the "he devoured her with his eyes" variety.) The "West-meets-East" theme is handled with delicacy, and the period detail lavishly realised.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments