🔖 The novel is set against the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. The invasion marks the end of the British Empire and the reversal of all accepted values. The social order which has long been established in Hong Kong begins to disintegrate. The main characters engage on a journey of self discovery as their world falls apart. Their once apparently happy and perfect lives are shown to be shallow, hopeless façades behind which there is nothing but failure, self-denial and cowardice.