Landscape with Figures

Seven men who call themselves the Seven Sages travel east aboard an industrial magnate's steam yacht, carrying their business concerns and philosophical habits with them. Ambrose Herbert, their attentive recorder, supplies the diaries and minutes behind this fantasy. Lord Sombrewater continues directing his enterprises by wireless, while his daughter Lychnis senses that the surrounding sea resembles a scene painted on Chinese porcelain.

Ronald Fraser builds the story from the experience of looking at Chinese pictures, flowers and ceramics. Its landscapes lead into encounters with Wang, Hsiao and Yuan, whose painting, meditation and unexpected sayings challenge Ambrose's efforts to explain everything clearly. Lychnis brings a more personal uncertainty to his record as she tries to understand her own impressions and feelings. Readers interested in philosophical fiction will find a meeting of business society, imagined Chinese wisdom and closely observed colour, with the visitors' claims to understanding repeatedly tested.