The Wanchai Chronicles: A Tale of Lost Innocence in Hong Kong’s Red-Light District

The Wanchai Chronicles is a haunting and intimate look into one man's ruinous pursuit of passion in the anything-goes world of Hong Kong's red-light district: Wanchai. Author Svend Christiansen offers an intelligent morality tale that explores issues of desire and faithfulness in Wanchai. Karl Haugaard, an American venture capitalist, in Asia on business, risks the love of his wife, Kirsten, for a growing infatuation with Tika, a beautiful Indonesian teenager. Karl is torn between his sexual desires and his need to rescue Tika, who is determined to escape the drudgery of life as a domestic servant. Upon his return home to California, Karl's conflicting feelings of guilt and longing increase in intensity. Eventually, a confrontation with Kristen sends Karl down a path that provides no way back."Maybe the most honest and heart felt portrayal of the prostitutes in Hong Kong since Suzie Wong."-Glutter (Runner-Up, Best Hong Kong Blog Award 2004)