A review of On Borrowed Time by Graeme Hall

What could be more amazing than starting a new year with a fiction book (that too before its release date)! A few weeks ago, Isabelle Kenyon sent me On Borrowed Time written by Graeme Hall and told me to share my reading experience with you.

The book is released on 11th January 2021. It has almost three hundred and sixty-six pages and twenty-five chapters excluding the prologue and the epilogue. The story of On Borrowed Time revolves around six characters- Sam, Emma, Kate, Alice, Yeung Kwok-wah and Susan Khoo.

The prologue is set in August 1997's Hong Kong and it started with the break-up story of Sam and Emma. Emma broke up her relationship with Sam just because her visa was expiring. The author beautifully portrayed Sam's feelings on the day when Emma was going to fly to the UK.

The first chapter takes back the reader to one year earlier Hong Kong and describes Sam and Emma's life from two different angles. Sam worked at McShane Adams, the law firm with his two colleagues Rob and Kate. Kate and Sam were good friends who offered each other a shoulder to cry on when romantic liaisons were not working out. Only once had the mutual comfort gone further and they’d kissed, before they both pulled back not wanting to spoil a friendship. But one night, after a party and at least one margarita too many, and when they were both more maudlin than normal, they’d vowed to get married if they were still single when they hit forty. On the other hand, Emma, who loved to travel, broke up with her fiancé Mike two years ago on a Hong Kong trip. She told others that she was the only child of her parents. But later in the story, it is found that she was in Hong Kong to find out more about her brother’s death in Hong Kong a few years earlier. He had been killed in a traffic accident.

The second chapter introduces Kwok-wah who was doing a PhD in Computer Science at Shanghai University of Science and Technology. His research topic was- "a number of mathematical techniques that can be used in data transmission". He chose to do his PhD under professor Ye who was a leader in the field. Kwok-wah was inspired by professor Ye's lecture in Hong Kong outlining some of the things they’d be doing with phones in the future. Kwok-wah was from Hong Kong so it took him a while to settle in. He used to play basketball with the guys in his dorm. One day he got introduced to Susan Khoo who was watching him for a while at the basketball court. Susan was an American and was studying building sciences. They slowly started to spend more time with each other.

Emma met Sam for the first time when she was appointed as his temporary secretary. Her friend Alice was a local Hong Kong girl. They had met when Emma was working in one of her first temping jobs. Alice worked as a secretary but was doing a part-time law degree. She was politically active and was involved with a small human rights group. Alice was Kwok-wah’s cousin too and she persuaded Emma to join her human rights group.

The story is really interesting and you will find it more appealing once you start reading it. On Borrowed Time touches several sub-genres so it will be able to engage any fiction lover. If your reading tendency is to find mystery even in a normal story, this novel has so much to offer. If you are a college student or a corporate employee, you will love this book. It has so much to tell you about university life in china and corporate life in Hong Kong as well. The story is set in the period 1996/1997- including the handover of Hong Kong to China and I think this reason will be enough for you to pick this book. Although the story is set in Hong Kong (and Shanghai), anyone around our globe will be able to relate to it. If you are starting your first fiction work, On Borrowed Time will improve your writing style for sure. 

Writing Style: Four out of four stars. I read Graeme Hall for the first time and his writing style impressed me. He introduced the characters in a very creative way. The story is written in multiple points of view but the writer never showed his attachment to any of the characters. Graeme used some Hong Kong phrases(e.g. mo nan tai) to give the reader a flavour of the place. The ratio of flow of the story and description is so balanced that you can't skip anything in this book. Graeme's writing style is very calm and composed and it can never dissatisfy a reader.

Story: Four out of four stars. The story of On Borrowed Time will entertain the reader. All the characters in this novel have their own stories and there's another story behind all the stories. Granny Sun's sad story of selling her child will bring tears to a reader's eyes.

Overall rating of On Borrowed Time: "Morning shows the day" - the prologue indicated to me that this book is going to offer me good moods. Initially, I thought it was a typical love story, but I was wrong. I never thought of putting it down after starting to read the first chapter. Each chapter in this book has something to contribute in the story and that is the most satisfying value for a reader an author can add. There were so many characters, so many stories and so many tastes to present to the reader. The author showed his maturity by not creating any confusion in the reader's mind and beautifully developed the story. I really enjoyed reading this masterpiece. I am looking forward to collecting the paperback of On Borrowed Time and reading Graeme Hall's other books as well. I am giving On Borrowed Time four out of four stars.

This review is a part of the blog tour organized by Isabelle Kenyon and I'd like to thank her for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic novel. Before you exit this blog, I want to thank you for coming here to read my review. Please write a comment in the comment box below to give me your constructive ideas so that I can write better reviews for you. If you loved this review, share it with your friends, foes and families. It will encourage me to bring more reviews to you. Follow this blog by clicking the follow button on the sidebar and put your email in the subscription box so that you get an email notification whenever I upload a new blog post. Keep smiling, keep reading. Bye!