Rene Leys

Rene Leys is the quirky tale of spiritual adventure set in early twentieth century China. In this modern masterwork, a Westerner in Peking seeks the mystery at the heart of the Forbidden City. He takes as a tutor in Chinese the young Belgian Rene Leys, the son of a grocer, who is in the know about strange goings-on in the Imperial palace: love affairs, family quarrels, conspiracies that threaten the very existence of the empire. But whether truth-teller or trickster, the elusive and ever-charming Rene presents his increasingly dazzled disciple with a visionary glimpse of "an essential palace built upon the most magnificent foundations."