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Wuhan
1937. China is at war. Japanese soldiers sweep through the country, killing and displacing the millions who stand in their way. Nanjing has fallen, and Wuhan promoted in its place. While the rest of the world looks the other way, Wuhan stands alone against a whirlwind of violence which forced unprecedented cultural and political change. This will be a moment that shapes China's future.
Weaving together a multitude of narratives, Wuhan is a historical fiction epic that pulls no punches: the heart-in-mouth story of a peasant family forced onto a thousand-mile refugee death-march; the story of Lao She – the influential Chinese novelist – who leaves his family in a war-zone to assist with the propaganda effort in Wuhan; the hellish battlefields of the Sino-Japanese war; the incipient global conflict seen through a host of colourful characters – from Chiang Kai-Shek, China's nationalist leader, to Peter Fleming, British journalist based in Wuhan and a prototype for his younger brother Ian Fleming's James Bond.
Weaving together a multitude of narratives, Wuhan is a historical fiction epic that pulls no punches: the heart-in-mouth story of a peasant family forced onto a thousand-mile refugee death-march; the story of Lao She – the influential Chinese novelist – who leaves his family in a war-zone to assist with the propaganda effort in Wuhan; the hellish battlefields of the Sino-Japanese war; the incipient global conflict seen through a host of colourful characters – from Chiang Kai-Shek, China's nationalist leader, to Peter Fleming, British journalist based in Wuhan and a prototype for his younger brother Ian Fleming's James Bond.
768 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2021
18 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
John Fletcher
10 books3 followersJohn 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.
He has also written a large number of plays and dramatizations for radio and TV.
He has also written a large number of plays and dramatizations for radio and TV.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 5, 2021
My thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.
Wuhan is a novel of epic proportions set in the first year (1937‒1938) of the second Sino-Japanese war or Japanese invasion of China, when Wuhan (yes, the very same) served as the capital of the government headed by Chiang Kai-shek, a period fraught with horrifying violence, suffering and loss of life. This was not a novel that captured me from the start, but one that did gradually pull me in, and which I ended up enjoying very much (and indeed learning much from as well).
In the book we follow numerous storylines, of both historical and fictional characters. In the first part of the book, we basically follow two journeys. The first is of the fictional farmer Wei and his family (his old father, rather unpleasant wife, and six children) who were in some ways reminiscent of Wang Lung and his family from Pearl S Buck’s The Good Earth. We have the good-hearted and just Wei who loves his children and against social mores looks out for his oldest daughter, Spider Girl who suffers from rickets as a result of being denied food by her mother (naturally, her son was to be given preference; despite trying not to look at her from a current-day perspective, I found her to be a rather selfish character) and constantly faces insults and ill-will from her. Wei is disturbed by the clouds of black smoke he sees at a distance, but it is Spider Girl who brings news of the impending Japanese arrival to their village and persuades her father to move with the entire family towards Wuhan. The family sets off on a harrowing journey where many unspeakable sacrifices have to be made, and indignities to be borne.
The second story is that of author Lao She who is torn between his Western beliefs and the Confucian ideals he still finds himself practicing when he is called to Wuhan to serve his country while in his hometown, his old mother lies ill and can’t be moved. His equally patriotic wife convinces him to make the sacrifice, go to Wuhan while she and the children will remain and cope as best as they can. Lao She may not face the same difficulties that Wei and his family do on their journey, but he too must face indignities, and difficulties on his way, and also witnesses the atrocities that not only the invaders but their own soldiers are unleashing on innocent civilians, while the higher ups (many of them) focus on saving their own lives and wealth.
In Wuhan, Lao She begins his rather difficult task of training writers to produce propaganda that would actually be understood by people, since most of them can’t seem to understand that their high-flown Marxist writings mean little to the common person. He is also constantly worried about how his family are doing since he hears nothing from them. Some way down the line he is also entrusted with a rather distasteful mission by the government, but this doesn’t keep him entirely safe from the secret police who target him as well. Alongside, at the bidding of Madame Chiang, wife of Chiang Kai-Shek, he is also asked to write a play celebrating the city and the people.
Wei on the other hand enlists in the army and through him we witness the brutalities and realities of war in which it is the common person who suffers while those that initiate the conflict are at a safe distance. Wei does make a few friends, and acquire skills.
Spider Girl meanwhile finds herself housekeeper to journalist and writer Agnes Smedley (a historical character), who contributes toward the treatment of wounded soldiers. Through Agnes we also get a look into the views and perspectives of expat journalists in the Last Ditch Press Club including the idealistic pacifist George Hogg who tries to help a group of orphans, and Peter Fleming (brother of Ian, and partly an inspiration behind James Bond), who also works for MI 6. There are also a few others whose stories we follow, and a brief appearance by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.
Through Agnes and Spider girl we also meet Hu Lan-Shih (based on a real-life character but in a slightly fictional avatar), a former factory worker and unionist who is volunteering towards first-aid to wounded soldiers, an effort in which there is participation from many surprising quarters. Her story comes to Madame Chiang’s ears and she is offered a place on a government committee, but Hu is soon disillusioned and moves on to other tasks including helping young doctor Donald Hankey whom Spider Girl also helps.
The story is told in two voices. One the narrator, the author himself who tells us the stories of most of these characters even speaking to us (the readers) on some occasions. The other is the voice of Lao She, the only character who speaks to us in first person. At first, I found myself wondering why he (being a real-life character) was given a voice, and I found some of his language to be coarse as well. But that soon changed and by the end I found myself really enjoying his part of the narrative—it left me feeling as though Lao She was really talking to us. (It also left me wanting to explore his writings, which I have popped on to my list).
The book in effect really gives us a picture of China in those days—the mid-1930s, a time when Chiang Kai-Shek was in power. Illiteracy was the norm, and people had no conception of China, rather only of their own villages and towns. Language too, was a problem, for there were so many dialects spoken, that people found themselves unable to understand each other. When the Japanese attacked, people did however begin to get together and even the common man wished to fight for their homeland. (The efforts at unification had me thinking back to school history lessons of the unification of Germany, and Italy and what followed). But in the corridors of power, things were different as Chiang Kai-Shek, to preserve his own power, did not keep around him any truly skilled generals, which meant defence efforts were inadequate, and only a few could do something effective. On the other hand, the Soong sisters, who included Madame Chiang, and her sisters, Soong Ai-ling, married to the richest man in China, H.H. Kung, also the finance minister, and Soong Ching-ling, wife of Sun Yat-sen, who each wielded power and influence in their own right, worked for the betterment of the people and the country.
Besides the political situation in China, the book also gives us an idea of broader world politics, the appeasement policies of Britain and France who seemed more concerned with destroying communism rather than helping those who were suffering (on the continent and elsewhere). Though one does understand to a point their reluctance to being involved in another war.
Faith is another thread that one sees in the book, with many characters drawing strength from their faith.
War itself, as does any war, shows one the ugliest side of humanity, and this was the case here too; brutalities, looting, assaults, death—also greed—all of it is seen, and one does begin to understand the point of view of the pacifists during that time (at any time, too, really, but more so then, just some decades after the Great War though their view of how far Hitler would go was sadly wrong).
And because this book is focused on a period of war, there is violence, a lot of it—blood, gore—in all its rawness. But during the earlier parts of the book, I do agree with some other reviewers that the descriptions of violence and of assaults on women were a touch too graphic. Also, some of the coarse language feels entirely unnecessary. I could well see how these would be off-putting; it was to me as well, and while it didn’t lead me to want to abandon the book, I did wonder how I would get through it. But once I started to get immersed in the story, characters, and events, I did not only read it but enjoyed it as well.
So Wuhan turned out to be a book which I enjoyed (though enjoy is probably not quite the word) very much; not only did I learn a lot about a period in China I knew little about, it also gave me a lot to think about and introduced me to many real-life characters who I’ve become interested in learning more about. . (I also loved that the author managed to put in some surprises I didn’t see coming at all). Long though this is, I would definitely recommend it, though it may take a while to get into.
4.25 stars
Wuhan is a novel of epic proportions set in the first year (1937‒1938) of the second Sino-Japanese war or Japanese invasion of China, when Wuhan (yes, the very same) served as the capital of the government headed by Chiang Kai-shek, a period fraught with horrifying violence, suffering and loss of life. This was not a novel that captured me from the start, but one that did gradually pull me in, and which I ended up enjoying very much (and indeed learning much from as well).
In the book we follow numerous storylines, of both historical and fictional characters. In the first part of the book, we basically follow two journeys. The first is of the fictional farmer Wei and his family (his old father, rather unpleasant wife, and six children) who were in some ways reminiscent of Wang Lung and his family from Pearl S Buck’s The Good Earth. We have the good-hearted and just Wei who loves his children and against social mores looks out for his oldest daughter, Spider Girl who suffers from rickets as a result of being denied food by her mother (naturally, her son was to be given preference; despite trying not to look at her from a current-day perspective, I found her to be a rather selfish character) and constantly faces insults and ill-will from her. Wei is disturbed by the clouds of black smoke he sees at a distance, but it is Spider Girl who brings news of the impending Japanese arrival to their village and persuades her father to move with the entire family towards Wuhan. The family sets off on a harrowing journey where many unspeakable sacrifices have to be made, and indignities to be borne.
The second story is that of author Lao She who is torn between his Western beliefs and the Confucian ideals he still finds himself practicing when he is called to Wuhan to serve his country while in his hometown, his old mother lies ill and can’t be moved. His equally patriotic wife convinces him to make the sacrifice, go to Wuhan while she and the children will remain and cope as best as they can. Lao She may not face the same difficulties that Wei and his family do on their journey, but he too must face indignities, and difficulties on his way, and also witnesses the atrocities that not only the invaders but their own soldiers are unleashing on innocent civilians, while the higher ups (many of them) focus on saving their own lives and wealth.
In Wuhan, Lao She begins his rather difficult task of training writers to produce propaganda that would actually be understood by people, since most of them can’t seem to understand that their high-flown Marxist writings mean little to the common person. He is also constantly worried about how his family are doing since he hears nothing from them. Some way down the line he is also entrusted with a rather distasteful mission by the government, but this doesn’t keep him entirely safe from the secret police who target him as well. Alongside, at the bidding of Madame Chiang, wife of Chiang Kai-Shek, he is also asked to write a play celebrating the city and the people.
Wei on the other hand enlists in the army and through him we witness the brutalities and realities of war in which it is the common person who suffers while those that initiate the conflict are at a safe distance. Wei does make a few friends, and acquire skills.
Spider Girl meanwhile finds herself housekeeper to journalist and writer Agnes Smedley (a historical character), who contributes toward the treatment of wounded soldiers. Through Agnes we also get a look into the views and perspectives of expat journalists in the Last Ditch Press Club including the idealistic pacifist George Hogg who tries to help a group of orphans, and Peter Fleming (brother of Ian, and partly an inspiration behind James Bond), who also works for MI 6. There are also a few others whose stories we follow, and a brief appearance by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.
Through Agnes and Spider girl we also meet Hu Lan-Shih (based on a real-life character but in a slightly fictional avatar), a former factory worker and unionist who is volunteering towards first-aid to wounded soldiers, an effort in which there is participation from many surprising quarters. Her story comes to Madame Chiang’s ears and she is offered a place on a government committee, but Hu is soon disillusioned and moves on to other tasks including helping young doctor Donald Hankey whom Spider Girl also helps.
The story is told in two voices. One the narrator, the author himself who tells us the stories of most of these characters even speaking to us (the readers) on some occasions. The other is the voice of Lao She, the only character who speaks to us in first person. At first, I found myself wondering why he (being a real-life character) was given a voice, and I found some of his language to be coarse as well. But that soon changed and by the end I found myself really enjoying his part of the narrative—it left me feeling as though Lao She was really talking to us. (It also left me wanting to explore his writings, which I have popped on to my list).
The book in effect really gives us a picture of China in those days—the mid-1930s, a time when Chiang Kai-Shek was in power. Illiteracy was the norm, and people had no conception of China, rather only of their own villages and towns. Language too, was a problem, for there were so many dialects spoken, that people found themselves unable to understand each other. When the Japanese attacked, people did however begin to get together and even the common man wished to fight for their homeland. (The efforts at unification had me thinking back to school history lessons of the unification of Germany, and Italy and what followed). But in the corridors of power, things were different as Chiang Kai-Shek, to preserve his own power, did not keep around him any truly skilled generals, which meant defence efforts were inadequate, and only a few could do something effective. On the other hand, the Soong sisters, who included Madame Chiang, and her sisters, Soong Ai-ling, married to the richest man in China, H.H. Kung, also the finance minister, and Soong Ching-ling, wife of Sun Yat-sen, who each wielded power and influence in their own right, worked for the betterment of the people and the country.
Besides the political situation in China, the book also gives us an idea of broader world politics, the appeasement policies of Britain and France who seemed more concerned with destroying communism rather than helping those who were suffering (on the continent and elsewhere). Though one does understand to a point their reluctance to being involved in another war.
Faith is another thread that one sees in the book, with many characters drawing strength from their faith.
War itself, as does any war, shows one the ugliest side of humanity, and this was the case here too; brutalities, looting, assaults, death—also greed—all of it is seen, and one does begin to understand the point of view of the pacifists during that time (at any time, too, really, but more so then, just some decades after the Great War though their view of how far Hitler would go was sadly wrong).
And because this book is focused on a period of war, there is violence, a lot of it—blood, gore—in all its rawness. But during the earlier parts of the book, I do agree with some other reviewers that the descriptions of violence and of assaults on women were a touch too graphic. Also, some of the coarse language feels entirely unnecessary. I could well see how these would be off-putting; it was to me as well, and while it didn’t lead me to want to abandon the book, I did wonder how I would get through it. But once I started to get immersed in the story, characters, and events, I did not only read it but enjoyed it as well.
So Wuhan turned out to be a book which I enjoyed (though enjoy is probably not quite the word) very much; not only did I learn a lot about a period in China I knew little about, it also gave me a lot to think about and introduced me to many real-life characters who I’ve become interested in learning more about. . (I also loved that the author managed to put in some surprises I didn’t see coming at all). Long though this is, I would definitely recommend it, though it may take a while to get into.
4.25 stars
September 12, 2021
This utterly transportive, historical fiction epic was amazing in its depth and sprawl. I learned so much about Chinese culture, history, World War II, and the city of Wuhan caught at a cultural crossroads where Confucianism met Social Darwinism. I am astounded that this is British author John Fletcher's first novel, it is such a deftly interwoven work of documented fact and literary fiction.
Wuhan is about patriotism, about a culture of class and hierarchy and of deference, and it is about familial love, presented by way of two very different Chinese men with very strong-minded wives, both routed from their homes by murderous Japanese troops, and both headed to Wuhan. Fictional farmer Wei's family consists of him and his hugely pregnant wife, their six children aged 2-16, and his aged father, fleeing their ancestral farm in Shaanxi with assorted animals by wagon. Non-fictional character Lao She is a progressive socialist writer forced to leave his university position, his wife, children and aged mother behind in Jinan, for an opportunity he literally couldn't refuse, a propaganda position offered by General Feng Yuxiang.
After reaching Wuhan, farmer Wei sells what he believes to be his only surviving family member, to an American nurse, and enlists in the 22nd Battalion to sacrifice his life against the Japanese. And Lao She has all kinds of adventures with a Chinese resistance league made up of writers and artists. There are riveting accounts of actual battles, and fascinating bits about historical figures like Generals Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Rensuke Isogai, an enterprising young doctor named Donald Hankey, and various western journalists and spies. My favorite major character was Wei's eldest daughter, Spider Girl, so known for her peculiar lurching gait, due to rickets.
Author Fletcher writes so beautifully about Wuhan's fruits, flowers, industry and the Bund, the fact that he wasn't Chinese actually came as a shock to me. I love that he includes a History of the Non-Fictional Characters After 1938 section at the end of his book, I was sad my favorite minor character Intelligent Whore was not included.
Wuhan is about patriotism, about a culture of class and hierarchy and of deference, and it is about familial love, presented by way of two very different Chinese men with very strong-minded wives, both routed from their homes by murderous Japanese troops, and both headed to Wuhan. Fictional farmer Wei's family consists of him and his hugely pregnant wife, their six children aged 2-16, and his aged father, fleeing their ancestral farm in Shaanxi with assorted animals by wagon. Non-fictional character Lao She is a progressive socialist writer forced to leave his university position, his wife, children and aged mother behind in Jinan, for an opportunity he literally couldn't refuse, a propaganda position offered by General Feng Yuxiang.
After reaching Wuhan, farmer Wei sells what he believes to be his only surviving family member, to an American nurse, and enlists in the 22nd Battalion to sacrifice his life against the Japanese. And Lao She has all kinds of adventures with a Chinese resistance league made up of writers and artists. There are riveting accounts of actual battles, and fascinating bits about historical figures like Generals Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Rensuke Isogai, an enterprising young doctor named Donald Hankey, and various western journalists and spies. My favorite major character was Wei's eldest daughter, Spider Girl, so known for her peculiar lurching gait, due to rickets.
Author Fletcher writes so beautifully about Wuhan's fruits, flowers, industry and the Bund, the fact that he wasn't Chinese actually came as a shock to me. I love that he includes a History of the Non-Fictional Characters After 1938 section at the end of his book, I was sad my favorite minor character Intelligent Whore was not included.
January 29, 2026
DNF graveyard 🪦
Didn’t connect with the story or the characters
Most of them had no names to make the reader connect with them (spider girl ,baby boy,wife,husband,older boy,fat rat,….and the list goes on 🤦🏼♂️)
Didn’t connect with the story or the characters
Most of them had no names to make the reader connect with them (spider girl ,baby boy,wife,husband,older boy,fat rat,….and the list goes on 🤦🏼♂️)
June 5, 2022
This long sprawling historical novel is a panoramic portrait of China during the tumultuous years 1937-1939 when Japan invaded causing untold misery to countless thousands of ordinary Chinese citizens who suffered at the hands of the Japanese. The first part of the book follows one such beleaguered family as they are forced to flee the approaching Japanese forces. It’s an ambitious novel, with many narrative threads, a vast cast of characters, including many real-life ones –brief biographical sketches are helpfully provided at the end – harrowing and realistic battle scenes and a satirical look at the group of foreign correspondents who reported on the war. This last part was the least convincing to me as they all seemed caricatures of white privileged foreign journalists. The novel is meticulously and thoroughly researched and is both informative and illuminating. I learnt a lot from it. But did I enjoy it? Not really. In spite of the terrible events described I remained on the outside looking in and never really engaged with any of the characters. But above all I found the extreme violence and pervasive profanity gratuitous and overdone. So much bad language is used by just about everyone (would Agnes Smedley really have used the c-word so freely?) that it became tedious and desensitising. The broad historical sweep was welcome, opening up a time and place I was unfamiliar with, but overall I found the novel too long, too overdone and just generally too much.
January 17, 2026
I have been listening to this as an audiobook piece by piece for so long now that I genuinely feel a little bereft at having finally reached the end.
I don't know enough about the period to comment on the history or the culture depicted. As far as the quality of the writing goes, I would definitely have recommended quite a lot of cuts, but I also cannot help but be impressed by the sheer scale of Fletcher's ambition.
I don't know enough about the period to comment on the history or the culture depicted. As far as the quality of the writing goes, I would definitely have recommended quite a lot of cuts, but I also cannot help but be impressed by the sheer scale of Fletcher's ambition.
Read
July 4, 2022I suppose this is what happens when you judge a book by its cover, you win some you lose some. I think this was written with the best intentions and the scope and the desire to fit history in to this is commendable...
It does have a nice cover tho...
It does have a nice cover tho...
August 29, 2021
Not a great experience I’m afraid. I think it tried to be Stalingrad with a broad sweep & big character gallery including real historical figures. The problem was that it was cliche-strewn “top brass bad, ordinary people good”. For a very long book I hoped for something more nuanced.
January 29, 2026
A review of Wuhan by John Fletcher.
Published by Head of Zeus ISBN 978100 249882
By God I loved this book!
We are in the process of rightsizing so I am going through our large book collection where the library tribe lives. For the uninitiated the Library Tribe dwells in our book cases and throw down books for us to read. These books are always mysterious as nobody in the house has any information as to where they come from. Yet here it was. Wuhan - an immense book. Over 700 pages of magnificent story telling.
So people, flex your muscles, both triceps and your brain. Pick this tome up and crack on.
Why did I love this book so much? Well reader it blew my mind. It reminded me of a time as a child, living in trauma, why I read books; to understand how other people live. To understand that my little family’s culture was not the only one. There are many ways to see the world and many ways of being.
The book opens with a farmer and his family who seem to be living in paradise. The earth is fertile, the trees are blossoming. Farmer Wei is slightly worried about a wonky wheel on his cart. The old farmhouse has stood for centuries and the ancestors take a great and partial interest in the success of the family. And yet gentle readers of the West - the terms of survival for families in China becomes a brutal affair. Terrible and pragmatic decisions are made. Stop clutching your pearls sweet pea- this is how it is.
While your mindset has been swiftly kicked into another gear, we notice along with Wei, that there are storm clouds on the horizon. The Japanese are invading and nothing good lies ahead for Farmer Wei and his family.
John Fletcher describes the family’s flight to Wuhan -an unknown city - they stumble along a terrible road among 1000s of refugees. The writing is epic, filmatic and gripping. Once again Wei and his wife make decisions that seem incomprehensible to us. The whole thing reeks of dark nightmare but Fletcher does not allow the reader to turn away from his unflinching descriptions. This is the world. This is what it can do. This is how it can behave. STOP pretending that everything is for the best in all possible worlds.
When Wuhan is not stunning us with its physical terrors, Fletcher delivers deadly tirades against other sacred cows of western culture. Science does not come out of this well. Technological advances have mainly served mechanised arms race and genocide. (See also Facebook and Myanmar) Neither does any political system prevent their people enduring such terrible fates. Honest people were now collapsing and dying by their thousands . It was those who had robbed them of their water who survived.
The Times of London comes in for an amazing scrutiny (if you are brought up on the WW11 myths of Great Britain). Not so much a roaring lion of truth but a little Weasley pipsqueak of a paper - dependent on ex-pat colonialists to do its dirty work. Peter Fleming shows up in the fabulous Last Ditch Club in Wuhan. He, as Ian Fleming’s brother, was rumoured to be the model for James Bond. Not enough to save him in this book. Peter Fleming was all façade. What else can an upper-class old Etonian be but that? That was all he had. It is he who writes a treacherous editorial for The Times just before war was declared by Britain. Whilst administering sharp blows against past politicians Fletcher also does not allow us to escape the present. A show-stopping description of Chiang Kai-shek was based on Mathew Paris’ (of The Times…) brilliant description of Theresa May.
It is worth commenting on the extraordinary visual images that comprise this book. Just one to mention here is the amazing market that takes place in Wuhan just as its unfortunate people are once again on the move. Yes , the Japanese are advancing on the city. The market is extra-ordinary as its harvest time and the local farmers are streaming into the town with wagons piled high with the finest food/ drinks imaginable.
The cries of the sellers, desperate that there were so few customers, went up to the skies, as all this fecundity lay ignored around them.
One review of this book said that the characters were not nuanced. BY-OUR-LADY- nuance is a luxury in a world where you are reduced to drinking piss. However naming conventions are blunt and to the point. May I introduce The Intelligent Whore, who does a lot of good work for charity. It all ties in with a Chinese custom of naming people by rank. First son, second son etc. Again before we reel back reaching for smelling salts, think about all the job titles that have become surnames in the West. Carter, Wright, Smith, Linklater etc. Not so strange after all.
Wuhan is teeming with Dickensian characters. One of which, Lao-She, steps forth to tell the parts of the story the Wei family do not see. He is a well known Chinese author and here he helps hold the narrative together. Wealthier and more privileged that the Wei’s, Lao-She also undergoes horrors. Through him the author explores the nature of propaganda, its power and Orwellian nature of language. His writing is powerful, thoughtful and yes nuanced. We feel the author exploring ideas through him. Lao-She spends a lot of time asking us how he can write the stupendous events overtaking Wuhan. I felt slight disappointment that he was not writing this tale. I wish at the end, Fletcher could have allowed him to be the fictional author. Rather as George MacDonald Fraser handed his narrative over to anti-hero Flashman.
The final and most important person in this book is Spider-Girl. I am not going to give you her history here. She is great. Pluck up your courage, knock on the front door of this profound book and ask to meet her. Suffice to say that despite everything, redemption comes through love. It is love that does and will hold us all together. My younger self would have been greatly reassured.
Published by Head of Zeus ISBN 978100 249882
By God I loved this book!
We are in the process of rightsizing so I am going through our large book collection where the library tribe lives. For the uninitiated the Library Tribe dwells in our book cases and throw down books for us to read. These books are always mysterious as nobody in the house has any information as to where they come from. Yet here it was. Wuhan - an immense book. Over 700 pages of magnificent story telling.
So people, flex your muscles, both triceps and your brain. Pick this tome up and crack on.
Why did I love this book so much? Well reader it blew my mind. It reminded me of a time as a child, living in trauma, why I read books; to understand how other people live. To understand that my little family’s culture was not the only one. There are many ways to see the world and many ways of being.
The book opens with a farmer and his family who seem to be living in paradise. The earth is fertile, the trees are blossoming. Farmer Wei is slightly worried about a wonky wheel on his cart. The old farmhouse has stood for centuries and the ancestors take a great and partial interest in the success of the family. And yet gentle readers of the West - the terms of survival for families in China becomes a brutal affair. Terrible and pragmatic decisions are made. Stop clutching your pearls sweet pea- this is how it is.
While your mindset has been swiftly kicked into another gear, we notice along with Wei, that there are storm clouds on the horizon. The Japanese are invading and nothing good lies ahead for Farmer Wei and his family.
John Fletcher describes the family’s flight to Wuhan -an unknown city - they stumble along a terrible road among 1000s of refugees. The writing is epic, filmatic and gripping. Once again Wei and his wife make decisions that seem incomprehensible to us. The whole thing reeks of dark nightmare but Fletcher does not allow the reader to turn away from his unflinching descriptions. This is the world. This is what it can do. This is how it can behave. STOP pretending that everything is for the best in all possible worlds.
When Wuhan is not stunning us with its physical terrors, Fletcher delivers deadly tirades against other sacred cows of western culture. Science does not come out of this well. Technological advances have mainly served mechanised arms race and genocide. (See also Facebook and Myanmar) Neither does any political system prevent their people enduring such terrible fates. Honest people were now collapsing and dying by their thousands . It was those who had robbed them of their water who survived.
The Times of London comes in for an amazing scrutiny (if you are brought up on the WW11 myths of Great Britain). Not so much a roaring lion of truth but a little Weasley pipsqueak of a paper - dependent on ex-pat colonialists to do its dirty work. Peter Fleming shows up in the fabulous Last Ditch Club in Wuhan. He, as Ian Fleming’s brother, was rumoured to be the model for James Bond. Not enough to save him in this book. Peter Fleming was all façade. What else can an upper-class old Etonian be but that? That was all he had. It is he who writes a treacherous editorial for The Times just before war was declared by Britain. Whilst administering sharp blows against past politicians Fletcher also does not allow us to escape the present. A show-stopping description of Chiang Kai-shek was based on Mathew Paris’ (of The Times…) brilliant description of Theresa May.
It is worth commenting on the extraordinary visual images that comprise this book. Just one to mention here is the amazing market that takes place in Wuhan just as its unfortunate people are once again on the move. Yes , the Japanese are advancing on the city. The market is extra-ordinary as its harvest time and the local farmers are streaming into the town with wagons piled high with the finest food/ drinks imaginable.
The cries of the sellers, desperate that there were so few customers, went up to the skies, as all this fecundity lay ignored around them.
One review of this book said that the characters were not nuanced. BY-OUR-LADY- nuance is a luxury in a world where you are reduced to drinking piss. However naming conventions are blunt and to the point. May I introduce The Intelligent Whore, who does a lot of good work for charity. It all ties in with a Chinese custom of naming people by rank. First son, second son etc. Again before we reel back reaching for smelling salts, think about all the job titles that have become surnames in the West. Carter, Wright, Smith, Linklater etc. Not so strange after all.
Wuhan is teeming with Dickensian characters. One of which, Lao-She, steps forth to tell the parts of the story the Wei family do not see. He is a well known Chinese author and here he helps hold the narrative together. Wealthier and more privileged that the Wei’s, Lao-She also undergoes horrors. Through him the author explores the nature of propaganda, its power and Orwellian nature of language. His writing is powerful, thoughtful and yes nuanced. We feel the author exploring ideas through him. Lao-She spends a lot of time asking us how he can write the stupendous events overtaking Wuhan. I felt slight disappointment that he was not writing this tale. I wish at the end, Fletcher could have allowed him to be the fictional author. Rather as George MacDonald Fraser handed his narrative over to anti-hero Flashman.
The final and most important person in this book is Spider-Girl. I am not going to give you her history here. She is great. Pluck up your courage, knock on the front door of this profound book and ask to meet her. Suffice to say that despite everything, redemption comes through love. It is love that does and will hold us all together. My younger self would have been greatly reassured.
January 27, 2022
I wrote this little review of Wuhan by John Fletcher before I looked up anything about the book or its author—I just picked it off the new books shelf at the library and started reading. I’ve read quite a lot about Chinese history and culture and traveled there quite a bit as well—and it strikes me that Fletcher is himself quite a Sinophile and keen observer and connoisseur of Chinese folkways, landscapes, street-life, sights, smells, sounds. He credibly and imaginatively animates what happened around 1938 as the Japanese armies invaded China from the north, sweeping masses of refugees south towards the Yangtze. The narrative mainly follows the ordeal of a peasant farm family as they flee. This subplot intertwines with the story of Lao She—the intellectual and novelist—and with stories featuring a variety of other “real” historical persons who were major and minor participants in those chaotic places and days. Among these are really famous figures such as Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang, Chinese generals, English and American journalists. An appendix has capsule biographies of most of these historical persons and there are a couple dozen footnotes that buttress fascinating details we encounter, such as the Chinese wheelbarrows that use sails and balance on a single wheel. Fletcher manages lush evocations of natural scenes, supplemented with excerpts from the classical poet Du Fu and others—these work well to link this story with the sweep of Chinese and world history. The tale presents many shocking and grim realities of wartime hardship in the bitter context of Chinese life at this time—from infanticide, rape, human trafficking, and death by bombs, blades, bullets, sharpened spades…It probably goes too far in this direction for some readers. But overall, it is a compelling read which, though informed by the historical record, includes imaginative flights that help me glimpse whatever might have led to identifying the author a Neoplatonist. I’ll guess he’s a Neoplatonist with “Chinese characteristics.”
September 18, 2021
It was not an easy read, but very interesting and rewarding. I liked to learn about parts of history At the beginning I didn't really like the shocking details, it was difficult to continue reading, even though now at the end I understand that these descriptions were necessary. They let you understand the characters and the story (and history) better, but they are not really an easy read.
I would recommend this book.
I would recommend this book.
May 7, 2023
Despite its flaws I actually ended up enjoying this a great deal. It sort of alternates between being unrelentingly grim and oddly tongue-in-cheek, but I eased into it and ended up quite gripped. I was expecting this to be a struggle, I'm not a huge fan of war as a genre but the military aspects were really well written and the battle of Taierzhuang was absolutely the pinnacle of the book.
It's bloated, for sure - the last section, with all the British journalists and arguments about Hitler's posturing in Czechoslovakia, felt irrelevant and like the book was trying to be about LIFE THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING in 1938. It lost my interest and consequently felt kinda underwhelming as a plot. Also, his characterisation is weird, and often cartoonish. But still. The first two thirds and the last couple of chapters were solid enough to keep this as a 4/5
It's bloated, for sure - the last section, with all the British journalists and arguments about Hitler's posturing in Czechoslovakia, felt irrelevant and like the book was trying to be about LIFE THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING in 1938. It lost my interest and consequently felt kinda underwhelming as a plot. Also, his characterisation is weird, and often cartoonish. But still. The first two thirds and the last couple of chapters were solid enough to keep this as a 4/5
March 3, 2022
I loved it. This book was so brutal but honestly the brutality of it is part of what made it hit so hard for me. Spider Girl also made this book for me - I love her so much. I listened to the audio version of this (30 hours long 😭), and I couldn't stop listening. I never got distracted once. I've been thinking about this book even when I'm not listening; I feel like I've definitely gained some perspective on the reality of war and also the scope of my own ignorance lmao. I need to read more books like this.
August 26, 2021
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
The Japanese invasion of China, brutal and destructive, and its effects on the Chinese people forced to flee their ancestral homes in an often futile attempt to reach the huge city of Wuhan is brilliantly written by author John Fletcher. With unforgettable characters and a knowledgable setting, this is one of the best books I have read this year. Highly recommended.
The Japanese invasion of China, brutal and destructive, and its effects on the Chinese people forced to flee their ancestral homes in an often futile attempt to reach the huge city of Wuhan is brilliantly written by author John Fletcher. With unforgettable characters and a knowledgable setting, this is one of the best books I have read this year. Highly recommended.
May 29, 2023
2.5 rounded up. This was an interesting snapshot into China during the Japanese invasion. I enjoyed reading about the day to day life and struggles of the Chinese in Wuhan, and particularly enjoyed the descriptions of developing street plays with Lao She and Hu's insight into the government. However it was very meandering and very bloated - not a book I was eager to pick up each night.
August 12, 2021
Things of note: This book is extremely violent and definitely has parts that should be outlined with trigger warnings as it can be difficult for some to read. The story is fascinating but the story can be a bit heavy and hard to read at times.
May 21, 2022
Yes this book has the most graphic violence I've come across, but somehow it fits the context. The sino Japanese war was one of most brutal conflicts of the 20th Century after all. Harrowing and hopeful all at once.
Currently reading
July 4, 2021Netgalley
pub date September 1, 2021
Published by Head of Zeus
pub date September 1, 2021
Published by Head of Zeus
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January 23, 2022caught my eye at the library, huge, fascinating
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2025
Very VERY long, and a good historical fiction book. Definitely dragged on for a bit and confusing but I really liked Spider Girl the most. Sometimes the romance was unnecessary.
April 29, 2025
Extremely useful for a snapshot into that period of Chinese history，but sometimes I dreaded reading it.
December 18, 2024
An unusual book that was a bit long-winded at times.
The characters either had really insignificant names (such as Wei, Hu or Donald) or hard-to-forget ones ("Spider Girl", "Intelligent Whore"). Add to this a sprinkling of real people, such as Chang Kai Shek.
I did learn a few facts about obscure Chinese history and beliefs - never knew about sailed-wheelbarrows before, I was heartbroken that Wei died believing he had failed his ancestral responsibilities to pass on the farm to eldest son. We never found out how Spider Girl's romantic obsession with the eccentric English surgeon turned out, I suspect she got what she wanted!
The characters either had really insignificant names (such as Wei, Hu or Donald) or hard-to-forget ones ("Spider Girl", "Intelligent Whore"). Add to this a sprinkling of real people, such as Chang Kai Shek.
I did learn a few facts about obscure Chinese history and beliefs - never knew about sailed-wheelbarrows before, I was heartbroken that Wei died believing he had failed his ancestral responsibilities to pass on the farm to eldest son. We never found out how Spider Girl's romantic obsession with the eccentric English surgeon turned out, I suspect she got what she wanted!
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