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From the Author
Writing a Historical Mystery/Thriller set in China
An Interview With Dean Barrett Q. Why did you set your novel in Hong Kong in 1857? What was so special about that place and that year? A. Well, In 1857, many foreigners in Hong Kong waters were beheaded by Chinese; there were scandals among officials in Hong Kong to such an extent that the governor was not on speaking terms with his own attorney general and they had to write notes to each other; the "Protector of Chinese" was found to be in league with pirates; the police commissioner owned brothels; the British fleet was shelling Canton. Just at the time when people had decided Hong Kong didn't have much future, some Chinese bakers placed ten pounds of arsenic in the bread eaten by foreigners living there. History's only mass poisoning. And that's just for openers. Q. Sounds like you picked quite a year. A. In fact, up until WWII, historians referred to 1857 as probably the most disastrous year in Hong Kong history. Which is wonderful for a writer because 'disastrous' usually means dramatic. Q. What was going on in the heads of the bakers? A. They probably figured it was their last chance to get rid of the foreign devils. The foreigners had the guns and cannon and ships-of-war so the Chinese patriots used what weapon they had -- arsenic. Whether they were patriots with a plan or poisoners with a plot is in the eye of the beholder, but the 1850's cultural and military clash between Chinese and foreigners was one of the most colorful periods of human history. The misunderstandings were incredible; sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious. Q. An example? A. Chinese had never seen green eyes before. So they assumed everyone was born with dark eyes and the eyes of green-eyed people had faded as they got older. Questions they asked revealed how little they understood the West: "Do you have a moon in your sky?" "Do you have a sky?" "Is it true your emperor is a woman (Queen Victoria)?" You have to understand that through Chinese eyes, foreigners weren't simply from other countries; it was almost as if they were aliens from another solar system; as in the film "Independence Day". And, of course, the British and Americans and others had many misunderstandings about the Chinese as well. Q. You lived in Asia for 17 years? A. Seventeen years in Hong Kong; three more in Bangkok and Taiwan. That's 20 years in Asia. Not counting the year in Hawaii for the master's degree, of course. Q. When were you living in Hawaii? A. About the time Lincoln freed the slaves. Q. What were you doing in Asia? A. I first went out during the Vietnam War. As a Chinese linguist in a SOU with the Army Security Agency. Q. SOU? A. Sorry. 'Special Operations Unit.' Then I returned to the States and did graduate work in Chinese at San Francisco State College and went on to Hawaii. Then back to Asia. Q. Why'd you leave Asia to come back to the States? A. Wish I knew. Q. Seriously. A. Well, I needed a composer for a musical I was writing set in Hong Kong in 1857. I also realized I had a lot to learn as far as crafting the book and lyrics of a musical. And I wanted to spend a lot of time in the research library on 42nd Street. I love researching in libraries. So I've written a play about the 19th century Chinese slave trade called "Barracoon;" a musical about the poisoning case in 1857 Hong Kong called ""Fragrant Harbour;" a novel set in Hong Kong and southern China in 1857, "Hangman's Point;" and a filmscript, "Dragon Slayer" set in Vietnam in 1968 and southern China in - you guessed it - 1857. And, of course, I'm working on the sequel to Hangman's Point called Thieves Hamlet. Q. Also set in the year... A. You got it. Q. But if you wanted to write a musical couldn't you find an Asian composer in Asia? A. Asian composers are often brilliant. But they all train in classical music, not musical theater. Broadway-style musical theater is a very different kettle of fish. Q. You're originally from Connecticut? A. Groton, Connecticut. 'Home of the Nautilus; submarine capital of the world.' As the sign says. Q. What took you to Asia? A. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I already knew I belonged in Asia. It's just one of those things. As a teenager I was going to estate auctions and, if I could afford it, buying up anything that looked Asian. Of course, at the time I didn't know an Indonesian batik from a Ming vase but I already knew I loved anything Asian. And I began reading Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee series set in T'ang China. Q. Which brings up the question: Would you say Hangman's Point is a historical mystery novel? A. That's a very good question. The novel is historical with elements of mystery and thriller. I think the writer Harold Stephens summed it up best: "A tale of adventure, steeped in mystery and suspense." Q. Didn't he in fact say, "magnificent tale of adventure?" A. I'm modest. Q. So you love Asia but yet you now live in Manhattan. A. True. But almost every project I write is connected to or set in Asia. So in my head I never left. Q. When were you last in Asia? A. Just a few months ago. In Hong Kong and Bangkok. Two years before that in Hong Kong and Beijing. Q. Any thoughts about going back to Asia to live? A. All the time. Q. Any other projects? A. Yes. My novels on Thailand will be coming out in July and the second in September (1999). The first is a kind of mystery novel called KINGDOM OF MAKE-BELIEVE and the second is a M*A*S*H-type satire called MEMOIRS OF A BANGKOK WARRIOR. The latter is a slightly rewritten large paperback edition of a mass paperback edition which appeared in Thailand in the 1980's. It sold very well and was optioned for film here in the States four times. KINGDOM OF MAKE-BELIEVE is a new novel. Q. Anything else on China? A. In addition to THIEVES HAMLET I'm writing an introduction to the memoirs of an American soldier captured and enslaved by Taiping women warriors in the 1860's. One of Frederick Townsend Ward's 'Ever Victorious Army' officers left a Memoirs of his three-month captivity by Chinese female combatants. Q. What's the title? A. A LOVE STORY: THE CHINA MEMOIRS OF THOMAS ROWLEY, ESQ. It's actually very sexy and very erotic. Q. You're writing an introduction or you actually wrote it and claim to be writing the introduction? A. Would I lie to you?
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