An Insular Possession | An Insular Possession

At a glance:

Author: Timothy Mo
First Published: 1986
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Historical
Time of Work: The 1830’s and 1840’s
Setting: Canton, the Macao Peninsula, Lin Tin Island, and Hong Kong
Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction, Satire
Subjects: Politics, Colonies or colonization, Race, Nineteenth century, Asia or Asians, War, India or East Indian people, Drugs, Commerce, Opium, Silk
Locales: China, Hong Kong, Canton, China, Lin Tin Island, China, Macao

Gideon Chase, a young man who, at the age of seventeen, is a junior clerk in the Canton offices of a large American trading firm, the Meridian Company. He is industrious, diligent, quick-witted, and curious. The youngest character and an orphan, he spends much of the first half of the novel watching (and learning from) the others, particularly on their escapades to the “flower boats” and forays into the city proper, as well as to the haven of Macao. Later, he is revealed as the main protagonist, acting on his own initiative, though to higher purpose...

An Insular Possession | An Insular Possession

At a glance:

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