Wuhan a huge historical tome (734 pages) addressing the horrors of the Japanese invasion of China in the late 1930s, and how Wuhan, an industrial city was promoted as the alternative capital of the nation.

Although Wuhan has many characters, it follows the trials and tribulations of two in particular. Wei is a farmer who is warned by his daughter, Spider Girl (so called because her mobility is impaired by rickets), who hears of the advancing Japanese and rushes home to encourage her family to flee to safety. Lao She is an intellectual who feels his country must move away from its faithful adherence to rigid Confucianism. As the Japanese invade Jinan he leaves his family to offer his services to the nation in an entirely different way.

The story of how the Japanese were merciless conquerors and wrought many atrocities on the people who were in their way is confronting. The memories of these terrible events are still vivid in the minds of its people and the book reflects on this.

This novel does have its faults. It is much longer than needed and I found myself drifting in some areas due to the amount of detail.

All that aside, the characters, while a bit unreal, were interesting and this is a story well worth telling, about a time and place that for many is long lost to history.

Reviewed by Lesley West

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Fletcher is a Neoplatonist and an anarcho-syndicalist. Over the course of his life he has been many things, including a construction worker, a shepherd, a white van driver, a gravedigger, a steelworker, a cleaner, a teacher, a broadcast journalist, and a writer. Wuhan is his first novel.