The Chinese Love Pavilion

This is a marvellous novel from the late fifties, which deserves to be better known. Set in Malaya after the second world war, it is narrated by Tom Brent, who is still in the British army after having served throughout the war. Throughout the later part of the book, the jungle itself becomes a brooding symbol of Saxby's tortured mind. The book is superbly written, and contains passages of searing intensity. The end is desolating. If I had to choose ten books to take to a desert island, this would certainly be one of them.

This is one of the 10 all time best books I have been lucky enough to discover. From Bombay to Malasia characters are viewed in transcendental clarity as a supernatural thread connects Tom Brent to Brian Saxby, a mysterious British seeker of truth. When Saxby's predictions of Tom Brent's life and personality inadequacies become realized, a search for Saxby in Malasia begins. The voyage of discovery leads to some remarkable encounters with a Eurasian prostitute, some British soldiers and a band of Chinese and Malasian guerilla fighters. The search for the elusive Saxby continues into the Malasian Jungle. His desire for revenge against Japanese collaborators haunts those left behind after the occupation, as does Saxby's own spiritual evolution . The influence of Saxby on the lives, loves and consciousness of those he has touched becomes their final fate in this remarkable story.