In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the “cat’s table”—as far from the Captain’s Table as can be—with a ragtag group of “insignificant” adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrator’s elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself “with a distant eye” for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Another Cat’s Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy’s adult years, it tells a spellbinding story—by turns poignant and electrifying—about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.

翁达杰是以《英国病人》跻身国际知名作家行列的加拿大小说家、诗人，本书由他的两部小说组成。《经过斯洛特》是关于一个传奇人物的想你的传记。十九、二十世纪之交，大约有两千个妓女、七十名职业赌棍、三十位钢琴师的新奥尔良斯托里维尔区，只有一个人吹短号――查尔斯・“巴迪”，博尔登。他白天在约瑟夫理发店理发和收集花边新闻，夜晚以其独特的方式演奏爵士乐；他嗜酒成性，与两个女人有瓜葛，被死亡的恶梦所困扰，以致三十一岁时发疯。翁达杰从这些零零落落的事实中重构了这位爵士乐先锋和殉难者起伏跌宕、凄婉动人的一生。《世代相传》基于作者两次故土之旅所搜寻到的野史和正史，以充满神奇魅力的文字、诙谐幽默的笔调记述了家族成员中一桩桩惊世骇俗的奇闻轶事，令读者在捧腹中沉思人生中挥拂不去的沉重。 翁达杰极富独创性地凭借一支发现的而非叙述的妙笔探索并重构一段段逝去的往事，在他饱蘸激情和诗意的笔下，虚构与事实、抒情与机智、反讽与幽默完美地融为一体。他杰出的叙事艺术拓展了小说的疆域。

有时，我躺在你的臂弯，你问我，希望自己身处哪个历史时刻。我会说，巴黎，科莱特去世的那个星期……巴黎，一九五四年八月三日。几天后，在为她举行的国葬上，一千枝百合将摆在她墓前，我愿置身其中，走过那条林荫道，两边是湿漉漉的柠檬树，然后驻足在巴黎皇宫她住的二楼公寓楼下。如科莱特这样的故人，他们的故事充盈我心。她是一位作家，曾评价自己唯一的优点是自我怀疑。 尼采说，“我们拥有艺术，所以不会被真相击垮。”一个事件的原貌，永无终结。库珀的故事和我妹妹的人生版图，永远令我魂萦梦牵。午夜过后，每当电话铃声响起，我提起话筒，幻想他们可能突然出现。我期待听到库珀的声音，或是克莱尔自报姓名前的深呼吸。 因为我已把自己和过去的那个“我”剥离开来，不再是那个和他们在一起的我。那时，我的名字叫安娜。