Jia Mai Libri

Five code-breakers gather in the mountains of China. Which one is a double agent? A World War Two spy thriller from the most translated Chinese novelist of our time. China, 1941. While war rages in Europe, Japan has established itself as the supreme power in Asia. The beautiful province of Hangzhou has become a stronghold of the Japanese puppet government. One day, five officers from the code-breaking department are escorted to an isolated mansion outside the city. One of them has been sharing secrets with the communists. No-one is leaving until the traitor is uncovered. It should be a straightforward case of sifting truth from lies. But as each code-breaker spins a story that proves their innocence, events are re-framed, and what really happened is called into question again and again. Part revisionist history, part playful meta-fiction, The Message is at once an absorbing and cerebral spy thriller and a commentary on storytelling itself.

'One genius trying to work out what another genius has done - it results in the most appalling carnage . . . ' The world only makes sense to Rong Jinzhen through numbers. As an orphaned child he counts the ants on the ground and writes calculations on wrapping paper. But as this fragile, isolated boy grows up, his mathematical genius is recognized by the secret services. Recruited as a codebreaker to crack the notorious 'Purple' cipher, he begins to unravel . . . 'Powerful, an entirely original work - a mix of spy thriller, historical saga and mathematical puzzle.' David Evans, Financial Times 'Strange, twisting, often beautiful . . . it grips from the first page. An absolute joy.' Economist 'Dreamy, surreal and unexpected . . . possesses an aesthetic of its own, a world in which the characters feel constantly teetering on the edge of obsession.' Tash Aw, Daily Telegraph 'Superb, utterly fascinating.' Edward Wilson,Independent 'Truly a page turner - gripping plot, otherworldly aura and flamboyant detail.' Perry Link, The New York Times Book Review

'Cracking another country's cipher is an undercover fight to the death...' Hidden deep in the mountains, the recruits at 'Unit 701', China's secret services, operate in a dark, shadowy world. There is the 'wind-listener', a blind surveillance officer who can hear sounds from miles away; the beautiful, unstable maths genius who meets a violent end; the old man who deciphers codes in his dreams; the spy who recounts a dangerous mission from beyond the grave. In this story of conspiracies, geniuses, revolutionaries and terrible moral choices, people sacrifice everything for a world of secrets - until, ultimately, it destroys them.

A literary coming-of-age story set in twentieth-century China. The Colonel is an almost mythic figure shrouded in the tragedy of war and history – but why does everyone call him 'the Eunuch'?