Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard

Powerful, beautiful and not yet deaf to a catchy melody, Victoria Init - the consort of a middling Philippine politician - should be entering the prime of life as sleek and satiated as the household cat. But she is distracted by an ambition to put her dusty fiefdom on the wider cultural map, an inspiration that enmeshes her in events as horrific as they are hilarious. Set in Macau, the Philippines, Japan and New York, multi-award winning author Timothy Mo's latest novel is perhaps his most brilliant to date.