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A young English woman named Grey had parents who were very protective of her. They didn't allow her to watch movies and only let her read certain books. But one book slipped through her parents' protective eyes. It had an orange cover and it depicted the atrocities the Japanese did to the Chinese people during the Second World War. Grey read about what happened in Nanking, China and was horrified. She soon lost track of the book and when she spoke to others about what she read they called her crazy. For over nine years she became obsessed with what happened there, and eventually she was sent to a mental hospital. As soon as Grey is released from the hospital she travels to Tokyo, Japan to find a professor at a college who has proof, a tape, of what the Japanese did to the people in Nanking. At first the professor tells her that he is not the person she thinks he is, but Grey gets him to admit to the truth. He says that he will think about her request to see the tape and promises that he will get back to her. He finally agrees, but he will permit her to examine the tape only if she helps uncover information about the Tokyo criminal underworld for him. The two form a very dangerous alliance. THE DEVIL OF NANKING by Mo Hayder is a beautifully written book. The reader learns about a horrific time in the history of both China and Japan during the Second World War through the voices of Grey during her life in today's Japan, and via the memoirs the professor wrote when he was in Nanking in 1937. Grey's world and the professor's past life meld together to create a story that comes together at the end of the book. It is a tragic and beautiful tale. This is not an easy novel to read and yet it is hard to put down. China went through terrible things when Japan invaded in 1937, yet the author does not place blame on the Japanese. She is just telling a story, repeating history. The novel is filled with gruesome brutalities, but the violence needs to be there. It is not gratuitous and because it is what really happened in Nanking, it makes the story very real and terrifying. THE DEVIL OF NANKING is a remarkable and well-written book and should be read by everyone.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, June 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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