British author Susan Barker delves into complex cultural intersections and layers of history within her writing. Her prose expertly blends contemporary observations with profound historical narratives, often set against contrasting backdrops. Barker explores themes of identity and cultural collision with a keen eye for detail and a distinctive stylistic flair. Her work draws readers into richly depicted worlds filled with unexpected turns and insightful commentary.
The narrative follows two grieving individuals, Jake and Mariko, who uncover a chilling connection between their loved ones' mysterious deaths linked to an enigmatic woman who never ages or stays in one place. As they delve into a haunting investigation that spans continents and centuries, they confront the unsettling truths surrounding the woman's dark influence. With each revelation, the story explores themes of loss, guilt, and the nature of the supernatural, leading to a gripping quest to uncover her true identity and purpose.
A thrilling journey through a millennium of obsession and betrayal, "The Incarnations" follows taxi driver Wang in Beijing as he discovers letters revealing his past lives. Each letter connects him to historical events and figures, highlighting the cyclical nature of history and humanity's repeated mistakes.
"Hailed as "China's Midnight's Children," a gripping new novel about a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations haunt him through searing letters sent by his mysterious soulmate"--
Malaya 1951, a jungle resettlement camp: young colonial adventurer Christopher
Milnar falls passionately in love with a Chinese nurse Evangeline - a fierce
flame that ends in tragedy when their camp is attacked by Communist guerrillas
and Christopher is violently beaten up.
Mary, a blond graduate from England, has drifted into a job in a hostess lounge in Osaka. She and other 'economy gelshas' are employed by the enigmatic Mama san to spend their evenings flirting with rich Japanese salarymen, playing drinking games and taking turns in the karaoke booth. Mary is in love with Yuji, Mama san's handsome son. But Yuji's loyalty is to the petty Yakuza gangster for whom he works. Watanabe, the introverted cook, watches Mary from the Sayonara Bar's kitchen. He exists in his own manga-fuelled fantasy of the fourth dimension, and believes he can see into other people's souls, as well as into the gurgling viscera of their bodies. When he perceives the danger of Mary's growing obsession with Yuji, he resolves to protect her whatever the cost. Mr Sato works for the Daiwa Trading Corporation. Obsessive overwork cannot cover the emptiness of his solitary life. Lured against his will to the Sayonara Bar by his boss, he finds himself returning there to escape his dead wife's ghost. Edgy, sly, and often very funny, Sayonara Bar spins a kaleidoscopic, genre-crossing tale of people cut adrift in a shrinking, globalized world.
