It is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay. Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day. But he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley's friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is – a man who has no choice but to mask his true self. As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts – a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction....

An epic novel nominated for the Man Booker Prize, this extraordinary debut tells the story of a young manis perilous journey through the betrayals of war and into manhood.

A beautiful and haunting novel; longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012. Malaya, 1949. After a career spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle fringed plantations of Northern Malaya. There she meets the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan. Yun Ling asks Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister. But the Garden of Evening Mists is also a place of mystery, and the jungle holds secrets of its own - The Garden of Evening Mists deals with Malaysia's turbulent road to independence, a time of insurrection, uncertainty and terror. This recording is unabridged. Typically abridged audiobooks are not more than 60% of the author's work and as low as 30% with characters and plotlines removed.Review'Just as elegantly planted as his Man Booker longlisted debut The Gift of Rain, and even more tantalisingly evocative' THE INDEPENDENT