TEHRAN-The Persian translation of the book “The Message” written by the Chinese novelist Mai Jia has been released in the Iranian book market.

Retitled “Sound of the Wind,” the book has been published by Ghoghnoos Publishing House in 392 pages in Iran with a translation by Fariba Bordbar, ILNA reported.

The story is set in China in 1941. At the height of the Sino-Japanese conflict, the Tokyo-backed Republic of Nanking strengthens its underground struggle against the resistance. 

One night, four intelligence agents – two men and two women – serving the puppet government of Wang Jingwei as cryptographers are escorted to the famous Qiu Estate, two isolated buildings on the outskirts of Hangzhou. They have been summoned by the headquarters of the imperial army because a spy is hiding among them. Jin, Wu, Li, and Gu must remain locked up until the traitor is unmasked.

Separating the truth from the lies, however, is not easy. Each of the suspects places a limit on what they are willing to reveal, each has a story to tell to support their integrity. And each version is capable of overturning the previous one.

So, who is guilty? Who is innocent? No one knows what to believe, but the truth, if it really is the truth, has its price.

After working for a long time in the Chinese secret services, alongside agents and cryptanalysts, Mai Jia transfers her profound experience into a high-tension spy story that, against the backdrop of one of the great wars in history, takes on the charm of a mathematical puzzle.

Mai Jia, 60, is arguably the most successful writer in China today. His books are constant bestsellers, with total sales over three million copies. 

He has achieved unprecedented success with film adaptation: all of his novels are made into major films or TV series, the screenplays of which are often written by himself. He is hailed as the forerunner of Chinese espionage fiction, and has created a unique genre that combines spycraft, code-breaking, crime, human drama, historical fiction, and metafiction. He has won almost every major award in China, including the highest literary honor - the Mao Dun Award.

He has also served as the president of Zhejiang Writers Association and vice president of the Zhejiang Literature and Art Association.

SS/SAB