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The angels keep their ancient places:-
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estranged faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing. (Francis Thompson, O world intangible)
At the risk of being presumptuous, I do hope that the Journal's many and valued readers have not, themselves, missed the many-splendoured thing. It takes some working at but, by goodness, it's worth it!
I have now read several of Han Suyin's books and learned a great deal more about her. Accordingly, I offer this short Note as a tribute to her life and achievements.
Opposite is a recent photograph of Han Suyin and her husband, Vincent, which seems an appropriate postscript.
Han Suyin and Vincent Ruthnaswamy, October 2000
REFERENCES
Han, Suyin. (1952). A Many-Splendoured Thing, London: Jonathan Cape
Han, Suyin (1994). Eldest Son: Zhou Enlai and the Making of Modern China, 1898-1976, London: Jonathan Cape.
Illustrated London News, The. 19 August, 1950.
Morrison, Ian. (1942). Malayan Postscript, London: Faber and Faber.
Morrison, Ian. (1943). Malayan Postscript, Sydney: Angus and Robinson Ltd.