The Yellow Emperor’s Cure

Kunal Basu

Picador India

325 pages, R499

In Lisbon towards the end of the 19th century, the surgeon Antonio Maria discovers his beloved father is dying of syphilis. He sets sail for Peking in the hope that traditional Chinese medicine holds the cure that eludes the West. The novel is set against the infamous Boxer rebellion of 1900 during which a local militia mounted attacks on Westerners, Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians.