The novel A Many-Splendoured Thing, by the Eurasian author and doctor Han Suyin, was an instant hit in Britain and the States on its publication in 1952. Set in Hong Kong between 1949 and 1950, it’s a lightly fictionalised account of the author’s own passionate and transformative love affair. The protagonist mirrors Han Suyin, herself – a Eurasian doctor originally from mainland China, born to a Chinese father and a Belgian mother. In real life Han Suyin fell in love with an Australian war correspondent who, in the novel, becomes an Englishman, Mark Elliott.

The book was quickly snapped up by Hollywood and released as Love is A Many Splendoured Thing in 1955.

In the first of two episodes, John Yorke urges us to read the book as, in his opinion, the film misses the nuance, subtlety and interest of the novel.

This, he says, is because the book, through a huge and complex array of secondary characters and vivid descriptions, reveals so much about a pivotal point in history – a time when scores of refugees were making their home in Hong Kong, leaving mainland China to escape the inevitable defeat of the national government by the communists. John also explores the way Han Suyin’s honest revelations about her contradictory feelings within the love affair give the novel a huge emotional charge and offer a window into her own journey towards self-determination.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised on BBC Radio 4. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe, and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters.

Credits:

Contributors:

Reader: Chipo Chung

Producer: Penny Boreham

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4