Echoes of a Deserted Island: A Long-Buried Confession

In 1938, Shanghai falls to the Japanese, and the International Settlement becomes an isolated island.

Su Manqing, a forensic pathologist who has returned from studying abroad, moves into Jingyuan, where her younger sister, Su Manli, worked before her “accidental” fall from a building. The mansion lies deep in the French Concession. In name, it is a cultural salon frequented by the elite; in truth, dark currents swirl beneath the surface. Her sister’s diary contains little beyond scattered, lovesick ramblings and one eerie line: “The person in the mirror is stealing my shadow.”