History's Fiction by Xu Xi ISBN 9789889706128 | Paperback | Chameleon Press | November 2005 | HK$72.00 Buy this book from Paddyfield.com

At breakfast, her father said, "There's going to be trouble today." On the radio, news of the unrest dominated. It was early April in 1966, a little over a year before the most major riots in Hong Kong’s post-war history. -- from "Democracy" Xu Xi ranks as one of Hong Kong's foremost contemporary English language novelists. And here, from the turbulent 60s through the 90s, is a "history" of Hong Kong told through fiction. Stories from each decade feature historical incidents but the focus is on the personal. History intrudes into private lives and more in these thirteen tales. "Xu Xi manages to avoid the usual cliches ... explaining the paradox that is Hong Kong and revealing a side of it rarely explored." -- South China Morning Post "Haunting" -- Simon Elegant "One of Hong Kong’s most prominent writers does it again." -- Hwee Hwee Tan This new edition includes a reading guide for English teachers and students by Lingnan University's Mike Ingham.