First published in 2009

Inspired by a true story, this is a witty and suprising tale of erotic obsession set against the backdrop of the 1904 Russo-Japanese War.

At the age of forty-two, the handsome and influential Australian journalist George Ernest Morrison is considered the most eligible Western bachelor in China. Then, one night, where the Great Wall meets the sea, he encounters Mae Perkins. She is the ravishing and free-spirited daughter of a California millionaire and politician. Soon, a turbulent affair begins. In the course of it, he quickly learns that she is even more of a libertine than he is.

Meanwhile, Russia and Japan have gone to war over which country should dominate northeast China. Morrison’s colleague Lionel James has an idea that will revolutionise war correspondence. He can only succeed, however, with Morrison’s help. James’s quest helps to propel Morrison into Mae’s magnetic orbit once more.

A Most Immoral Woman is a surprisingly witty and erotic tale of sexual and other obsessions, set in the ‘floating world’ of Westerners in China and Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. At its heart stands an original and devastatingly honest woman, as seen from the perspective of the extraordinary man who was drawn to love her.