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Wuhan

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Wuhan

By: John Fletcher
Narrated by: Bruno Roubicek
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About this listen

Wuhan, 1937. China is at war, invaded by the Japanese Army, who sweep through the country killing indiscriminately. As the capital city falls, Wuhan takes its place and will become pivotal in China's future.

1937. China is at war. Japanese soldiers sweep through the country, killing and displacing the millions who stand in their way. Nanjing has fallen, and Wuhan promoted in its place. While the rest of the world looks the other way, Wuhan stands alone against a whirlwind of violence which forced unprecedented cultural and political change. This will be a moment that shapes China's future.

Weaving together a multitude of narratives, Wuhan is a historical-fiction epic that pulls no punches: the heart-in-mouth story of a peasant family forced onto a thousand-mile refugee death-march; the story of Lao She - the influential Chinese novelist - who leaves his family in a war-zone to assist with the propaganda effort in Wuhan; the hellish battlefields of the Sino-Japanese war; the incipient global conflict seen through a host of colourful characters - from Chiang Kai-Shek, China's nationalist leader, to Peter Fleming, British journalist based in Wuhan and a prototype for his younger brother Ian Fleming's James Bond.

©2021 John Fletcher (P)2021 Head of Zeus Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction China War Imperial Japan Heartfelt
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I recently listened to 'China' by Edward RutherfurdI, a good story line and narration of a story set 19th century fiction skillfully blending fact and fiction. I was hoping to experience something similar in 'Wuhan' as an account of the concurrent experiences of primarily a peasant family and a famous Chinese author (Lao She) during the first stages of the Sino-Japanese War 1937-45.

The story started off well enough but as real historical characters were introduced it went off the rails with compounding myths about well known personalities or giving them views which are difficult to believe. One myth that has been discredited is that of Feng, the Christian general who supposed baptised his soldiers 'en masse' with a fire hose. Not true according to contemporary sources. Another relates to NZ citizen Rewi Alley widely lauded as a great humanitarian. His initial life in China was creditable but he was, apart from Chairman Mao, one of the few to put on weight during the Cultural Revolution.

So, while the story had great potential and is a good value read/listen I found myself annoyed by historical inaccuracies or portrayals far from the truth. On a positive note I thought the descriptions of the battle of Taierzhuang and the plight of refugees fleeing the Japanese well covered. So, OK but fell short of the potential it promised.

Potential not realised

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