For an amazing and disturbing literary journeyinto the heart of the real China, read -
FOREIGN DEVIL
a novel by Robert Warne.
Available as a download or a paperback from:
www.lulu.com/foreigndevil
Click above for more information, or see below for a preview.
(The foreign devil in question is on a first tentative
date with his beautiful young Chinese girlfriend.)
As we wandered and chatted, I got a strong feeling that fate was leading us on. A full moon came out from behind the last of the departing silvery clouds. Our desultory meandering led us straight to the deserted lakeside boathouse and soon I was rowing her across the smooth, silent water past pavilions and ghostly tree silhouettes, under mock-antique Chinese arches and nine-corner bridges. The scenery was almost too clichéd to be true, just like the gardens on a willow pattern plate. I stopped under some overhanging branches and together we admired the low moon’s brilliant shimmering reflection on the glistening black lake surface. Nature seemed to be doing her best to imitate cheap romantic fiction and urging me to take up the role of the strong, masterful hero. Again I heard that wicked voice in my head telling me,
“You’ll never get a better chance than this! Make your move now!”
I inched along our seat and put my arm around Angela’s waist, even though I knew full well that such early advances were not the done thing in China. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I merely placed my arm behind her, for we were barely touching, but after a few moments of uncertainty I realised I had made a cataclysmic blunder. She froze like she had been struck dead, and through the corner of my eye I could see that she was staring down in mute consternation at the bottom of the boat.
