The Weeping Women Hotel
by Alexei Sayle
Sceptre, HK$120
On the acknowledgments page of The Weeping Women Hotel, Alexei Sayle thanks 'Sifu' John Kelly, without whose knowledge of Oriental martial arts he says he wouldn't have been able to write the book. The recognition might wrong-foot readers: the novel is more a satire, thriller and comedic exercise than a narrative about Eastern combat systems. One of the main characters, Patrick, teaches the obscure Li Kuan Yu, a martial art named after Singapore's first prime minister because the founder, Hongkonger Martin Po, considered Lee Kuan Yew 'a mighty warrior'. Patrick is the personal trainer of the heroine, an obese, hapless woman called Harriet, who has a pretty sister and a bothersome brother-in-law. When Harriet's initially excruciating attempts to lose weight finally start to show results, she emerges beautiful and empowered, although Sayle avoids taking the feel-good path to show what happens when an ugly duckling turns into a swan. Her story begins after a battered woman steps out of a London train station at 3am and checks into a hotel with no questions asked. Readers will have to wait until the end to find out whether that victim is Harriet or her sister, and along the way enjoy or be baffled by Sayle's sometimes warped sense of humour.