The top ten books set in Hong Kong

Our fair city is a director’s favourite when it comes to needing an exotic locale to serve as backdrop. Hong Kong provided inspiration for the look of Ridley Scott’s dystopian Los Angeles in Blade Runner and the city itself has starred in all manner of recent films, from Ghost in the Shell to The Dark Knight. But don’t think Hong Kong doesn’t have literary pedigree too. More than a few famous novels have been set here, and these are just the top 10...

1. The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
This 1977 spy novel is the middle entry in le Carré’s famous Karla Trilogy, which began with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The book takes us on a journey through much of Southeast Asia. Through the eyes of George Smiley, caretaker chief of the British secret intelligence service, MI6, our imaginations are filled with scenes of drug smuggling, helicopter rescues and espionage. The language can be a bit jargon heavy, but once you get your head around it you won’t be able to put it down.

2. Tai-Pan by James Clavell
Filled with backstabbing and libel, Tai-Pan gives us a look at post Opium-War Hong Kong. Set in 1842, the novel follows protagonists Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock, former shipmates turned business rivals, each vying for the title of tai-pan.

3. The World of Suzie Wong by Richard Mason
Set your sights on the more risqué side of Hong Kong with this gritty romance centred around British artist Robert Lomax and his whirlwind relationship with Hong Kong sex worker Suzie Wong. A roaring success when it was first published in 1957, it has inspired two unofficial sequels and numerous plays.

4. The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum
Action more your thing? Then look no further than The Bourne Supremacy. Set during the handover 1997, the sequel to The Bourne Identity takes us on a journey shrouded in mystery. Jason Bourne is forced to take action when his wife Marie is kidnapped. The 1986 thriller is the very definition of a page-turner, with a head-to-head conflict between communist China and the CIA.

5. Gweilo by Martin Booth
This is a delightful account of Hong Kong from the point of view of a seven-year-old boy – it’s an autobiographical account of Martin Booth’s childhood in the 1950s. We follow his travels through small fishing villages in Sha Tin and settlements in Sheung Shui, with fascinating if sometimes grim details about Kowloon’s Walled City and the fire that devastated Shek Kip Mei in 1953, all from the inquisitive perspective of a child.

6. The Monkey King by Timothy Mo
Highlighting complex and often tense family relationships, The Monkey King delivers these themes in a highly amusing fashion. We follow Wallace Nolasco, who marries into the Poon family to further the family’s lineage and improve his own social standing. This mutually beneficial trade turns out to be a disappointment for Nolasco, with corruption and resentment soon ruling his life. Armed with a host of Cantonese colloquialisms, Mo delivers a hilarious take on scenes many of us can relate to.

7. Fragrant Harbour by John Lanchester
Take four people from very different walks of life and you’re sure to capture a glimpse of the city in a way you’ve never seen. Fragrant Harbour is a book that spans several decades – from the Japanese occupation to the handover – and we see the city from the perspectives of local Chinese and expat residents.

8. The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee
This international bestseller explores Hong Kong’s high society under colonial rule. The love story is set in the 1940s and 50s and explores the relationships of Will Truesdale, an Englishman who ends up working as a chauffeur in Hong Kong. The story flits seamlessly between the two decades, interweaving stories of romance, loss and betrayal, and explores the notion of love in different historical contexts.

9. White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway
In this teenage rebellion novel with a twist, we’re given a glimpse into the lives of two sisters growing up in a time of political unease. With the Maoist revolution setting in, the novel explores the girls’ teenage years against a backdrop of danger and intrigue.

10. Bitch on Heat by Richard Tong
This story pays homage to Hong Kong’s more salacious side. Recent widower Jack So’s life is turned upside down when he meets the eponymous bitch, Micki Wong. Set in 1987, this graphic novel takes us on a journey through the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong.