The Flowers of War

Its big-screen adaptation starring Christian Bale might be one of the richest films in Chinese history but anyone expecting Geling Yan's The Flowers Of War to contain a healthy dose of Hollywood schmaltz should look away now.

Set at the start of the siege of Nanking in December 1937, The Flowers Of War tells the story of a group of schoolgirls forced to take refuge in the attic of an American church while the advancing Japanese soldiers rape and massacre outside its walls.

The girls' safety is further compromised by the arrival of a band of gaudy prostitutes from a nearby brothel who are seeking shelter.

Fighting an increasingly forlorn battle to keep his church safe, and with the schoolgirls and prostitutes regarding each other with contempt, the ageing priest, Father Engelmann, is forced to confront issues of faith and prejudice.

If the central theme of the novel is that relationship between the sheltered schoolgirls and the colourful prostitutes, The Flowers Of War is far removed from the Spielberg-esque cliché of wartime redemption.

Yan is unafraid to portray in graphic detail both the lewd, crude behaviour of the girls and the horrors perpetrated by the Japanese soldiers. Just 250 pages long, The Flowers Of War is a masterpiece of focus and brevity: and certainly not one for the faint-hearted.