Publishers Weekly
★ 09/06/2021
Fletcher impresses in this searing debut, an epic historical about the suffering resulting from the Second Sino-Japanese War in China that began in 1937. The opening sections introduce Wei, a farmer, on his ancestral lands in North China. His diligent preparations for winter are disrupted when his eldest daughter, nicknamed Spider Girl for her awkward gait stemming from rickets, warns him that the entire clan must flee at once. The dark cloud he spots on the horizon is a sign of the invading Japanese army, she says, whose forces have been massacring Chinese civilians. Wei gets his family away in time, only to confront devastating heartbreak on the road to Wuhan, the southern city that, according to news reports, was attracting refugees. The impact of the Japanese incursion is also portrayed from the perspective of Lao She, an intellectual who feels his country has been damaged by dogged adherence to rigid Confucianism, which “tie down individuals, and the whole country, into a vicious web of obligation and service.” Lao is in Jinan when that city is imperiled by Japanese troops, and makes the wrenching choice to leave his family to aid his country’s war effort as a propagandist in Wuhan. Fletcher makes all his characters realistic, even if they only appear briefly, and excels at portraying the horrors of war and the moral challenges it poses. Fans of J.G. Ballard’s Empire of the Sun will be riveted. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
1937. Ravenous Japanese armies are eating China alive, and the Great Black Dragon of War is prowling amongst the broken shards of a ruined society. The panoramic sweep and ambition of this brave, accomplished novel is overwhelming, as are the many voices – fictional and otherwise – raised on page after page. Wuhan takes us to the very heart of a collective agony, an extraordinary achievement for a debut novelist” —Graham Hurley
“A book so vivid and evocative it is a kind of time travel. John Fletcher takes us back to Wuhan in 1937 when the city was the epicentre of China's resistance against the brutal Japanese invaders. This true story, little known in the west, sets the stage for a panoramic cast of finely drawn characters in this captivating, impressive debut” —Adam LeBor
“Fletcher impresses in this searing debut... Fletcher makes all his characters realistic, even if they only appear briefly, and excels at portraying the horrors of war and the moral challenges it poses. Fans of J.G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun will be riveted'” —Publishers Weekly
“Set amidst the violence of the Second Sino-Japanese war and boasting a varied cast of characters, Wuhan is an expansive, multinarrative epic of China's last stronghold against fascism” —Waterstones
“A big, sprawling, angry novel... This is a very committed book, angry at Europe and America's indifference to China's suffering, shocked by the savagery of the conflict, awed by the resilience of the Chinese people. This is where WW2 began, years before the war reached Europe. An epic book about an epic conflict. Don't miss it'” —Historical Novel Society
