description: England, 1930s. Christopher Banks has become the country's most celebrated detective, his cases the talk of London society. Yet one unsolved crime has always haunted him: the mysterious disappearance of his parents in Old Shanghai when he was a small boy. Now, as the world lurches towards total war, Banks realizes that the time has come for him to return to the city of his childhood and at last solve the mystery - that only by his doing so will civilization be saved from the approaching catastrophe. Moving between London and Shanghai, WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS is a story of memory, intrigue, and the need to return; of a childhood vision of the world surviving deep into adulthood, indelibly shaping and distorting a person's life.
language: English
title: When We Were Orphans
titlecomplete: When We Were Orphans
characters: Uncle Philip, Etsuko, Colonel Chamberlain, Jennifer, Inspector Kung, Lady Beaton, Anthony Morgan, Mr Grayson, Akira, Sarah Hemmings, Miss Givens, Diana Banks, James Osbourne, Mei Li, Mr Banks, Mr Lin, Aldra, Christopher Banks, Sir Cecil Medhurst, Mr MacDonald, Wang Ku
genres: Historical, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature, Mystery, China, British Literature, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 39188
places: Shanghai, London, England
awards: awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Whitbread Award
category: Novel
publisher: Books on Tape