Introduction
The Floating City at Sea is a global espionage epic set against the backdrop of World War II. It follows the extraordinary life of Chinese intelligence agent Lu Mingqian as he navigates among politicians, military officers, tycoons, and socialites from around the world to obtain crucial strategic intelligence. Told through the perspectives of ordinary people, the story looks through the eyes of amahs, barbers, street children, and others at the schemes and struggles wrought by those in power, painting a sweeping portrait of the world during World War II.
Spanning a million words, the novel moves through more than a dozen cities, including Shanghai, Paris, Berlin, Casablanca, New York, and Buenos Aires, from 1935 to 1955. Unlike traditional spy novels that focus on heroism, this story turns its attention to the human heart: everyone, no matter their station, struggles in the currents of their era. Behind Lu Mingqian’s “perfection” lie insomnia and emotional isolation. Beneath a Japanese intelligence officer’s “cruelty” is the pain of a country torn apart. Deep within a military intelligence agent’s “loyalty” is the obsession left behind by shattered ideals.
This is a novel about choices: how to preserve the shades of gray within oneself in a world where black and white are indistinguishable, and how to place one’s faith in an age when trust has collapsed. When every identity has been stripped away, all Lu Mingqian leaves the world is a line on the first page of his diary: “I have seen the best of times and the worst of times. But what I most want to remember are the people who, amid the currents of their era, still managed to be human.”
