I did not think this book was as captivating as either A Debt to Pleasure (one of my faves) or Mr. Phillips, and it was certainly different in both scope and setting, but something about it haunted me. It is a sweeping account of Hong Kong from the 1930s until today, told from the points of view of 4 characters who lived there and whose lives were intertwined almost by fate. What I found most fascinating were the snapshots of expatriate colonial life in such an exotic place, poised between the capitalist West and Communist East. Definitely different.