The Harbour, screenwriterturned- author Francesca Brill’s maiden novel, follows the fascinating tale of a young, ambitious American journalist, Stevie Steiber, in war-torn China in 1940s. It is a story of love in times of war, of troubled inhabitants in mainland China, of politics and drugs. Split into three parts, the novel covers the time before the Japanese invasion, the invasion itself and the struggles of the protagonists. In an attempt to show that she is capable of much more than reaching to readers with frivolous gossip from the Orient, Steiber tries to interview the highly influential Snoog sisters for a book. While the older two sisters grant her an audience without reluctance, the third one remains elusive. A persistent Steiber convinces the third Snoog sister with the help of her editor, Wu Jishang, with whom she has a complicated relationship. Madam Kung, the third Snoog sister, though initially reticent, opens up to her, giving her a sense of purpose and respite from her hedonistic life. Thrown into her life is Major Harry Field, assigned by the British government with the task of looking into anything suspicious in Hong Kong. While trying to get close to Jishang, he meets the free-spirited, intelligent companion of Jishang, Steiber, and falls for her. Although he’s married, and she’s unwilling to commit to a relationship for the fear of losing her freedom and much more, the two are passionately drown to each other. And they begin an affair. Chaos follows the invasion. Field is injured and is later imprisoned. Steiber, now mother of Harry’s child Hal, is faced with insurmountable hardships. Will their love stand the test of time? What does it take for her to stay alive and safe? What happens to the common folk of China? All these form the rest of the novel which promises to be ‘a tumultuous, passionate, fierce story of wartime love’. In times of war, there can hardly be people whose actions and intentions are fair and above board, and Brill seems to know this very well. Her protagonists are people with frailties, with shades of grey. She convincingly narrates the frustrations of a woman forced to do things which have nothing to do with her ambitions including bearing a child, agony of a man torn between his passionate longing for a peripatetic reporter and a faithful wife and the pain of people faced with an oppressive regime and invaders who promise no freedom. The author also manages to beautifully portray the landscape of mainland China, contrasting lives of the ordinary people and the high and mighty of the land and the easygoing lifestyle of colonial outpost who think invasion is too far away. The depiction of war and what follows is certainly praiseworthy. Her experience as a screenwriter seems to be coming to her aid as she is able to vividly depict scenes, paying attention to minute details. However, the novel isn’t devoid of flaws. Brill, who excels in characterisation, fails in fully capturing the feelings of her protagonists. Although the affair between Field and Steiber is passionately destructive, we rarely get a glimpse into their feelings. Neither does the impact of their all-consuming passion on people around them get an accurate portrayal. Albeit these minor flaws, The Harbour is a good read and Brill does emerge as a promising author.