The Concession
Tags
Summary
This is the concession—a gold mine for speculators, full of opportunity and rife with deadly peril.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy Republican-era Shanghai settings and espionage atmosphere
- Readers of fiction who prefer complex character relationships and multi-party power games
- Readers interested in the historical texture of old Shanghai's concessions
- Literary readers who can accept a cold tone and slow-burn pacing
Not a good fit for
- Genre-fiction readers expecting fast-paced, action-heavy thrills
- Readers who dislike multiple character threads and ambiguous romantic descriptions
- Readers hoping for clear historical conclusions or source-based scholarship
Reading tips
- First sort out the relationships among the four forces and main characters before entering the plot; this reduces early disorientation.
- Pay attention to spatial descriptions from the photographer's perspective—concession streets and interiors often hint at characters' circumstances.
- Read the two women and the protagonist's emotional line as a mirror of the political vortex, not as a standalone romance thread.
- If the novel sparks interest in concession history, pair it with popular Shanghai urban history for further understanding.
About the publisher
Founded in 1996, Henan Literature and Art Publishing House mainly publishes books on literature and art, social sciences and broadly cultural subjects, and also edits and publishes the journal Celebrity Biography, gradually forming a publishing style characterized by full-length historical novels and biographical literature. Judging from the 269 titles in the database, its publishing scope also covers mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, classic works and world classics. Representative books include Ellery Queen's four tragedies, Slaughterhouse-Five, Blindness, The Siege of Lisbon, The History of the Siege of Lisbon, the ten-volume Collected Works of Wang Zengqi, Old Tales Retold and the two-volume Classic Short Stories of Stanisław Lem, the God of Science Fiction. In terms of authors, it includes foreign masters such as Kurt Vonnegut, José Saramago and Ellery Queen, as well as translators such as Yang Xi, Yu Jianhua and Fan Weixin.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 序 摄影师、炼金术士及重建一个上海
- 引子
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 六
- 七
- 八
- 九
- 十
- 十一
- 十二
- 十三
- 十四
- 十五
- 十六
- 十七
- 十八
- 十九
- 二十
- 二十一
- 二十二
- 二十三
- 二十四
- 二十五
- 二十六
- 二十七
- 二十八
- 二十九
- 三十
- 三十一
- 三十二
- 三十三
- 三十四
- 三十五
- 三十六
- 三十七
- 三十八
- 三十九
- 四十
- 四十一
- 四十二
- 四十三
- 四十四
- 四十五
- 四十六
- 四十七
- 四十八
- 四十九
- 五十
- 五十一
- 五十二
- 五十三
- 五十四
- 五十五
- 五十六
- 五十七
- 尾声
- 后记
- 附注
FAQ
Is this book an espionage novel or a historical novel?
The protagonist is a mixed-race photographer—what purpose does this setting serve?
How much Shanghai concession history do I need to know before reading?
Is it easy to confuse the characters while reading?
Comments
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About the author
Xiao Bai is a Chinese author active in fiction and the personal essay, though public information about him is limited: his biography, nationality, and dates of birth and death are not confirmed. Judging from the four works held in the collection, he writes both novels and prose, with subjects spanning war and military life as well as social fiction. His representative works Blockade and Concession are set against modern urban and concession spaces and combine historical suspense with everyday narrative, while The Lustful Hamlet and Performance and Peeping lean toward the essay, offering cultural observations on texts and on the act of watching. Overall, Xiao Bai's writing balances storytelling with reflection, drawing meaning from historical detail and ordinary scenes in prose that is composed and quietly erudite.
