The novel commences in Japan in 1947 , and subsequently takes in Hong Kong , England and New Zealand . Written in the third-person narrative , the novel principally follows its protagonist , the decorated British war veteran Aldred Leith , who is travelling through post-war Asia to write a book . At times the narrator follows Peter Exley , an Australian friend of Leith 's who is investigating Japanese war crimes , and Helen Driscoll , an Australian teenager with whom Leith falls in love while billeted in Japan
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes
The Great Fire (novel)