Sailors We – Synopsis © John Lewis 2024

SYNOPSIS

SAILORS WE is a first-person narrative that describes the ways and experiences of Jamie Andrews, a fictional British sailor during his time in China waters before and during the First Opium War. From Jamie’s chance meeting as a boy with Lord Horatio Nelson to Captain Charles Elliot’s acquisition of Hong Kong for Britain, Jamie’s narrative encompasses Lord Napier’s failed attempt to open trade with China on an equal diplomatic basis, the venerable Chinese Commissioner Lin Zexu’s destruction of over 1000 tons of British opium, and Charles Elliot facing down the bloodlust and greed of those who wished to sack Canton and raze it to the ground in retaliation.

As well as providing an insight into the perennial character of sailors of all ranks, particularly when at war, Sailors We predominantly involves the powerful relationship that develops between Jamie and a beautiful Eurasian woman, Meilin Catriona Macgregor.

Jamie is initially ambivalent about opium until Meilin shows him how destructive it is within the Chinese community. Later, he is closely involved with many of the major events of the First Opium War, including the destruction of the British opium by Lin Zexu, the opening battles – which a close associate, with some justification, claims Jamie triggered – the concluding battle, the acquisition of Hong Kong and the shipwreck of the cutter Louisa in a typhoon with Britain’s Joint-Plenipotentiaries Charles Elliot and Sir Gordon Bremmer on board.

As well as addressing actual historical events and significant people, Jamie’s narrative is also richly infused with other interesting events and characters including Meilin’s mother, the daughter of a Manchu nobleman raised by missionaries, who amusingly believes – or pretends to believe – that because of Jamie’s resemblance to Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, Jamie actually is Raffles in disguise. He also has an interaction with Ching Shih, the notorious pirate queen and with a fictional gangster Club-fist Liu who, within the narrative, is similarly empowered in Macau as the actual gangster, Big-Eared Du is later empowered in Shanghai.

Jamie’s and Meilin’s relationship at times is beset with problems, including Jamie returning to Macau after a forced separation to discover that Meilin’s father, the formidable Scottish trader, Malachi MacGregor had coerced her into a marriage of convenience after he discovers she is pregnant. Also, because of the amount of time Meilin spends working with Alexander Johnston, the Acting Administrator of Hong Kong, Jamie believes she may have switched her affection to Johnston, only to discover she was actually consolidating their own relationship, leading eventually to their marriage, by orchestrating their joint purchase of one of the most valuable lots at the first land sale at Hong Kong conducted by Johnston.