''The World of Suzie Wong'' is a 1957 novel by British writer
Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute. The novel has been adapted into a play and spawned two unofficial sequels, a film, and a ballet.
Plot
Robert Lomax is a young Briton who, after completing his
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
, goes to work on a plantation in
British Malaya
The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...
. During his time in Malaya, Lomax decides to pursue a new career as an artist for a year.
Lomax visits
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
in search of inspiration for his paintings. He checks into the Nam Kok Hotel, not realising at first that it is a brothel catering mainly to British and American sailors. However, this only makes the hotel more charming in Lomax's eyes, and a better source of subject matter for his paintings.
Lomax quickly befriends most of the hotel's
bargirl
A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual enterta ...
s, but is fascinated by the archetypal "
hooker with a heart of gold
The hooker with a heart of gold is a stock character involving a courtesan or prostitute who possesses virtues such as integrity, generosity and kindness.
Characteristics
The character type is defined by morally positive traits, which are contra ...
", Suzie Wong. Wong previously introduced herself to him as Wong Mee-ling, a rich
virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
whose father owns four houses and more cars than she can count, and who later pretends not to recognise him at the hotel. Lomax had originally decided that he would not have sex with any of the bargirls at the hotel because he lacks the funds to pay for their services. However, it soon emerges that Suzie Wong is interested in him not as a customer but as a serious love interest. Although Wong becomes the
kept woman
A mistress is a woman who is in a relatively long-term sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a different woman.
Description
A mistress is in a long-term relationship with her attached mister, and is often referred to ...
of two other men, and Robert Lomax briefly becomes attracted to a young British nurse, Lomax and Wong are eventually united and the novel ends happily with them marrying.
Development
Mason received inspiration to create the novel when he stayed at the Luk Kwok Hotel in 1956 and observed the prostitution services offered there.
Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
The novel was adapted into a
stage play
A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright.
Pla ...
in 1958 by
Paul Osborn
Paul Osborn (September 4, 1901 – May 12, 1988) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Osborn's original plays are '' The Vinegar Tree'', ''Oliver Oliver'', and ''Morning's at Seven'' and among his several successful adaptations, ''On Bo ...
, directed by
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American director, writer, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing other musicals.
Early years
Logan ...
, produced by
David Merrick
David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards.
Life and career
Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick gradua ...
, and starred
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
and
France Nuyen.
Tsai Chin Tsai Chin may refer to:
* Tsai Chin (actress) (born 1933), actress from Shanghai, also known as Irene Chow
* Tsai Chin (singer) (born 1957), Taiwanese singer
{{Hndis ...
played the title role in the
West End 1959 production.
The story was later adapted into
the 1960 film largely based on the earlier play, directed by
Richard Quine
Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer.
He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...
and starring
William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
,
Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...
,
Sylvia Syms, and
Michael Wilding
Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...
.
Ray Stark
Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was one of the most successful and prolific independent film producers in postwar Hollywood. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most ...
was the Executive Producer. Originally
France Nuyen was to repeat the role, but she fell ill and had to be replaced by
Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...
.
In March 2006, the
Hong Kong Ballet
The Hong Kong Ballet () is a classical ballet company founded in 1979.
History
The company was created in 1979.
Since 1997, The Hong Kong Ballet has concluded more than 30 tours to 10 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
I ...
premiered a dance adaptation by
Stephen Jefferies
Stephen Thomas Jefferies (born 8 December 1959) is a former South African first-class cricketer.
Career
Jefferies was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-fast bowler whose career centred on his home country of South Africa, though in ...
, entitled ''Suzie Wong''.
In 2010, scenes from Stephen Jefferies' ballet were used by director
Brian Jamieson in the film biography
To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey, to draw parallels between the screen character of Suzie Wong and the life of actress
Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...
.
Sequels
In 2008, Sebastian Gerard wrote an unauthorised sequel to the novel, ''For Goodness Sake: the Afterlife of Suzie Wong''. The book is set in 1998 Hong Kong, 47 years after the events in Mason's book. Gerard's novel explores the experience of Dr. Marco Podesta, a
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
veteran who is in Hong Kong for research. The book is Gerard's interpretation of what might have happened after the ending of the film, which was slightly more ambiguous than the ending in Mason's novel. Gerard's novel speculates that there might have been a real Robert and Suzie who were the inspiration for the story, and that only through them could we know if such an improbable romance might have endured.
There is also an unofficial modern interpretation of the ''World of Suzie Wong'' by Leon Pang, written in 2010, titled ''Suzie''. One of the characters in the book takes the name of Suzie Wong in an attempt to latch on to the fame of the original character. The novel explores 60 years of changes in Hong Kong, and themes include poverty, the rise of China, employment instability in the world in 2008, outsourcing, and the failings of capitalism.
Locations
![HK Wan Chai 灣仔 Luk Kwok Hotel 六國飯店 1933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/HK_Wan_Chai_%E7%81%A3%E4%BB%94_Luk_Kwok_Hotel_%E5%85%AD%E5%9C%8B%E9%A3%AF%E5%BA%97_1933.jpg)
The Nam Kok Hotel featured in the story is based on the
Luk Kwok Hotel () on
Gloucester Road in
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to th ...
, where Mason stayed, although the building is now more modern, the site having been redeveloped in the 1980s. Also, unlike the hotel in the book, the modern hotel is not a brothel, but is one of many small smart hotels on
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...
.
Reception
The novel received good reviews during its release.
See also
*
Prostitution in Hong Kong
Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organised prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment, causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitatio ...
References
External links
*
Hong Kong as City/Imaginary in ''The World of Suzie Wong'', ''Love is a Many Splendored Thing'', and ''Chinese Box''Archive, by Thomas Y. T. Luk, The
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...
. p. 73–82.
{{DEFAULTSORT:World of Suzie Wong
1957 British novels
British novels adapted into films
British plays
Novels about prostitution
Novels set in Hong Kong
William Collins, Sons books
Works about prostitution in Hong Kong