Music on the Bamboo Radio

It is 'uncannily quiet': as we look out over what Nicholas Holford can see outside his gate we adjust to the Hong Kong setting, then the signs of destruction and then the sudden appearance of Japanese soldiers. Nicholas is whisked away by his loving Chinese servants with just a brief last visit to the house before a long journey over to mainland China. This war story is full of drama - Nicholas helps rebels blow up a railway bridge, he manages to get into a prisoner of war camp - but it is the detail of his life with the Chinese family amid the constant danger of the Japanese invaders which gives the feel of history. This is a fine book with such a wealth of qualities - nail biting tension, adventure, the drama of the everyday in a richly created Chinese setting and precise historical time - that it will be a real winner with many readers.