The Empress Lover
Page 21
Inspired by a true story, A Most Immoral Woman is a surprising, witty and erotic tale of sexual and other obsessions set in the ‘floating world’ of Westerners in China and Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. At its heart stand an original and devastatingly honest woman and the extraordinary man who was drawn to love her.
Meet Zeki Togan, a small-time crim in big-time trouble.
Zeki Togan may have been born in the Old Country, but he considers himself as as Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi as the next larrikin – more so, in fact, because he’s a crim. Since Australia was founded by convicts, he reckons he’s more Australian than people who were born here but haven’t committed even one crime in their whole lives. Unfortunately, the Department of Immigration sees things differently.
And so the happy-go-lucky, wisecracking Zeki, a small-time break-and-enter artist who loves Australia even if he can’t stand Australian movies, finds himself locked up in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, thrown in together with asylum seekers, sex slaves, visa overstayers and other criminals like himself.
Immigration wants to deport him, and his own father doesn’t think that’s a bad idea. Worst of all, although he adores his girlfriend, Marlena, he’s having a hell of a time proving it from the wrong side of a double fence.
His new friends, the ‘asylums’ aren’t doing so well either. Everyone loves freedom. Not everyone gets it. Everyone wants to survive. Not everyone will.
This novel – optioned for a major motion picture – crackles with energy, humour and compassion.
COPYRIGHT
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Fourth Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2014
This edition published in 2014
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Linda Jaivin 2014
The right of Linda Jaivin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Jaivin, Linda, 1955- author.
The empress lover / Linda Jaivin.
ISBN 978 0 7322 9127 3 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7304 9775 2 (epub)
A823.3
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover image: Chinese pavilion and dried lotus by wulingyun / Getty Images
Author photo: Jade Muratore