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55-568: Noble House is a novel by James Clavell , published in 1981 and set in Hong Kong in 1963. It is the fourth book published in Clavell's Asian Saga and is chronologically the fifth book in the series. The "Noble House" in the title is the nickname of Struan's, the trading company first introduced in Clavell's Tai-Pan . The novel is over a thousand pages long, and contains dozens of characters and numerous intermingling plot lines. In 1988, it

110-527: A TV miniseries in 1980, produced by Clavell, it became the second-highest-rated miniseries in history (after Roots ) with an audience of more than 120 million. A second 10-episode production of the epic was released in 2024 by FX on Hulu and FX . Clavell's fourth novel, Noble House (1981), became a best-seller that year and was adapted into a TV miniseries in 1988. Following the success of Noble House , Clavell wrote Thrump-o-moto (1985), Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993). Peter Marlowe

165-709: A 50% stake in the Rustan Supercenters, Inc., the Rustan group's supermarket chain. 36% came from the Tantoco family and 14% from the Spinnaker group. Its holdings increased to 64% in 2015 and 100% in 2017. On March 23, 2018, the entire stake was sold to Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. through a stock swap , yielding Dairy Farm 18.25% of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. stock. In 2018, therefore, Rustan Supercenters are fully acquired by Robinsons Retail Holdings

220-559: A Dutch boat fleeing to India. The commander, described by Clavell years later as a "total twit", insisted that they be dropped off at the nearest port to fight the war despite having no weapons. Shot in the face, he was captured in Java in 1942 and sent to a local Japanese prisoner of war camp . Later, he was transferred to Changi Prison in Singapore. In 1981, Clavell recounted: Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among

275-455: A Western at Paramount, Walk Like a Dragon (1960). In 1959, Clavell wrote "Moon Landing" and "First Woman in the Moon", two episodes of Men into Space , a "day after tomorrow"-style science fiction drama, which depicted, in realistic terms, the (at the time) near future of space exploration . In 1960, Clavell had written a Broadway show with John Sturges , White Alice , a thriller set in

330-478: A dairy shop, a room for meat smoking , a cold storage room for winter clothes and residency for its manager. The building later evolved into the company headquarters until the company moved in the 1970s. The abandoned building was acquired by the Hong Kong Fringe Club , a non-profit-making arts organisation in 1984, and has been carefully restored. This distinctive 19th century building, now known as

385-473: A filmmaker. He produced and directed Where's Jack? (1969), a highwayman film which was a commercial failure. So too was an epic film about the Thirty Years' War , The Last Valley (1971). Clavell returned to novel writing, which was the focus of the remainder of his career. He spent three years researching and writing Shōgun (1975), about an Englishman who becomes a samurai in feudal Japan. It

440-528: A hit and launched Clavell as a screenwriter. He wrote Watusi (1959) for director Kurt Neumann , who had also made The Fly . Clavell wrote Five Gates to Hell (1959) for Lippert, and when they could not find a suitable director, Clavell was given the job. Paramount hired Clavell to write a film about the Bounty mutineers . It ended up not being made. Neither was a proposed movie about Francis Gary Powers made. Clavell did write, produce, and direct

495-609: A merged food retailing operations and renamed these supermarkets as Dairy Lane under Dairy Lane Limited. This joint business was undone by the acquisition of the Wellcome chain in 1964. In 1972, Dairy Farm was acquired by Hong Kong Land , a Jardines subsidiary. In 1986 Dairy Farm was relisted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after it was demerged from Hong Kong Land. Dairy Farm acquired a 50% interest in Maxim's at

550-425: A short story, " The Children's Story " (1964) and the script for The Satan Bug (1965), directed by John Sturges who had made The Great Escape . He also wrote Richard Sahib for Sturges which was never made. Clavell wanted to write a second novel because "that separates the men from the boys". The money from King Rat enabled him to spend two years researching and then writing what became Tai-Pan (1966). It

605-404: A specific series of events, but is more a snapshot of the 1960s in Hong Kong , serving as a capsule history of Jardine Matheson against the backdrop of the impending Vietnam War and the recent Kim Philby defection. Though the prologue is set on June 8, 1960 against the backdrop of the real Typhoon Mary , the story opens on Sunday, August 18, 1963, and runs through the days immediately preceding

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660-460: A story of his, Forbidden Territory , for filming. Neither was filmed but Far Alert kept being sold and re-sold. "In 18 months it brought in $ 87,000", he later said. "We kept getting paid for writing it and rewriting it as it went from one studio to another. It was wonderful." It was later sold to Fox where it attracted the attention of Robert L. Lippert , who hired Clavell to write the science-fiction horror movie The Fly (1958). This became

715-828: A stroke while suffering from cancer. He was 72. After sponsorship by his widow, the library and archive of the Royal Artillery Museum at the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich , in southeast London, was renamed the James Clavell Library in his honour. The library was later closed pending the opening of a new facility in Salisbury , Wiltshire; however, James Clavell Square on the Royal Arsenal development on Woolwich riverside remains. Dairy Farm International Holdings The head office

770-555: A thirty-minute adaptation of his novelette The Children's Story . He was meant to do a sequel to Shōgun but instead wrote a novel about the 1979 revolution in Iran, Whirlwind (1986). Clavell eventually returned to the Shōgun sequel, writing Gai-Jin (1993). This was his last completed novel. The New York Times said that "Clavell has a gift. It may be something that cannot be taught or earned. He breathes narrative ... He writes in

825-663: Is Clavell's author surrogate and a character of the novels King Rat and Noble House (1981); he is also mentioned once (as a friend of Andrew Gavallan's) in Whirlwind (1986). Featured most prominently in King Rat , Marlowe is an English prisoner of war in Changi Prison during World War II. In Noble House , set two decades later, he is a novelist researching a book about Hong Kong. Marlowe's ancestors are also mentioned in other Clavell novels. In Noble House Marlowe

880-532: Is all that matters. The rest of it is wind. I only know that once I start, I will finish... People now tell me it ends too soon." Clavell dedicated the novel to Queen Elizabeth II because "she owns Hong Kong. It belongs to the Queen of England [ sic ] and she has my admiration. You see I was born in the heyday of the British Empire and it's with me forever." Clavell said any film adaptation of

935-401: Is believed to be a composite character of two real life Jardine Matheson tai-pans, Sir Hugh Barton and Sir Michael Herries . Rothwell-Gornt is based on Butterfield and Swire, now known as Swire Pacific . Quillan Gornt is based on two Swire tai-pans, John Kidston "Jock" Swire and William Charles Goddard Knowles . Unlike the other Asian Saga novels, Noble House is not closely based on

990-737: Is in the Devon House in Taikoo Place , Quarry Bay , Hong Kong . As of 31 December 2020, the Group, its associates and joint ventures operated over 9,997 outlets; Wellcome /Food World (supermarkets), a controlling stake in Maxim's Catering ( foodservice ), Cold Storage (supermarkets), Jasons Market Place/Market Place by Jasons/Jasons Food Hall (high end supermarkets), Hero (supermarkets), Mannings /Guardian (health and beauty) stores; it also operates 7-Eleven (convenience stores) throughout

1045-490: Is mentioned as having written a novel about Changi which, although fictionalised, is based on real events (like those in King Rat ). When asked which character was based on him, Marlowe answers, "Perhaps I'm not there at all", although in a later scene, he admits he was "the hero, of course". The Asian Saga consists of six novels: In 1963 Clavell became a naturalised citizen of the United States. Politically, he

1100-417: Is positive, romantic. I write about men and women who like men and women. I don't write about psychiatric things, like finding the eternal answer to what is life. The novel was 1,200 pages. It had been reduced by 30% with the help of Clavell's editor, Jena Bernkopf. "These things go on until they end", said Clavell about the length. "My secret is I never know what's going to happen from day to day. The last page

1155-508: Is that the television version changes the setting from 1963 to the late 1980s, and updates visible technology and the general atmosphere accordingly. The looming return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 is frequently mentioned in the miniseries, which was not a major concern in the 1960s. Clavell's first novel, King Rat (1962), is set in 1940s Singapore. His second novel, Tai-Pan (1966), is set in 1840s Hong Kong. After visiting Hong Kong to research Tai-Pan in 1963, Clavell returned regularly to

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1210-483: The Hotung family . The American-Chinese scientist who defected to China and helped develop the first atom bomb for China, Dr. Joseph Yu, is a fictionalized version of renowned Caltech scientist Dr. Qian Xuesen . Sir Dunstan Barre is based on Sir Douglas Clague while the character Tsu-yan is based on Hong Kong businessman Henry Fok . A major difference between the original novel and the television miniseries adaptation

1265-638: The KGB and MI6 . The novel follows Dunross' attempts to extricate himself from all this and to save Struan's, the Noble House. Dunross also inherited the "coin debt" obligation first introduced in Tai-Pan . As tai-pan of Struan's, he must fulfill the request, whether legal or illegal, to anyone who presents one of the half coins that were initially split by Dirk Struan and the trader Jin Qua, serving as repayment for

1320-692: The Old Dairy Farm Depot , is a well-known landmark in Central providing a wide variety of cultural activities and performances. In 1904, Dairy Farm began importing frozen meat and opened its first retail store at the Central District depot. The second Dairy Farm store was established on Nathan Road , Kowloon towards the end of the war in 1918. Amongst other things, this store provided fishing boats in Hong Kong with large amounts of ice. In 1960, Dairy Farm and Lane Crawford formed

1375-602: The 20.00% of which is owned by Mulgrave Corporation and GCH Investments, wholly owned subsidiaries of Dairy Farm. As of June 2011, Dairy Farm is 78% owned by Jardine Matheson Holdings. In August 2021, Dairy Farm rebranded its trading name to DFI Retail Group. On 5 May 2022, the company subsequently changed its legal name to DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited, effectively phased out the Dairy Farm branding. On 19 April 2024, DFI's subsidiary PT Hero Supermarket Tbk announced it would divest its supermarket businesses along with

1430-554: The Arctic. It was never produced. In 1960, the Writers Guild went on strike, meaning Clavell was unable to work. He decided to write a novel, King Rat , based on his time at Changi. It took him three months and several more months after that to rework it. The book was published in 1962 and sold well. It was turned into a film in 1965 . In 1961, Clavell announced he had formed his own company, Cee Productions, who would make

1485-573: The British government seeks to prevent their actions. Anyone seeking to stop them cannot do so without enlisting the aid of Hong Kong's criminal underworld. Other obstacles include water shortages , landslides , bank runs and stock market crashes . In Noble House , Dunross finds his company the target of a hostile takeover at a time when Struan's is desperately overextended. He is also embroiled in international espionage when he finds himself in possession of secret documents desperately desired by both

1540-603: The assassination of US President John F. Kennedy . In 1961, Jardine Matheson became a public company, with the initial offer oversubscribed over 56 times, which is attributed in the novel to tai-pan Ian Dunross. In 1963, the Hongkong Land (fictionalized as Asian Properties) subsidiary of Jardine Matheson opened the Mandarin Oriental Hotel , which has today become one of the world's leading hotels. The Dairy Farm subsidiary of Jardine Matheson moved into

1595-592: The boat and the landslide—were closely modeled on real events (the Jumbo Floating Restaurant fire in 1971 and the Kotewall Road disaster in 1972). The Macau businessman who controlled the gold trade in partnership with Struans, Lando Mata, is based on a composite of two famous Macau businessmen, Pedro José Lobo and Stanley Ho . The Noble House compradore family, the Chens, are based on

1650-451: The character who was to become Clavell's heroic archetype, Dirk Struan . Struan's descendants were characters in almost all of his following books. Tai-Pan was adapted as a movie in 1986. Clavell's third novel, Shōgun (1975), is set in 17th-century Japan, and it tells the story of a shipwrecked English navigator in Japan, based on that of William Adams . When the story was made into

1705-460: The film industry via distribution and worked at that in England for a number of years. He tried to get into producing but had no luck, so he started writing screenplays. In 1954 he moved to New York, then to Hollywood. While trying to break into screenwriting, he paid the bills working as a carpenter. In 1956, he sold a script about pilots to RKO , Far Alert . The same year Michael Pate bought

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1760-509: The films King Rat , White Alice and No Hands on the Clock . In 1962, Clavell signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter . Only the second was made and it was not released until 1967. Clavell wrote scripts for the war films The Great Escape (1963) and 633 Squadron (1964). He wrote

1815-528: The health of Hong Kong people by providing them with non-contaminated cows' milk and to import a herd of dairy cattle so as to decrease the price of milk by more than half. The farm was located in Pok Fu Lam . In 1890, Dairy Farm built a low-rise brick and stucco building on Lower Albert Road in Central for use as a cold storage warehouse. This warehouse was later renovated and expanded in 1913 to include

1870-465: The inmates there were experts in all walks of life—the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but most of all I learned the art of surviving, the most important course of all. Prisoners were fed a quarter of a pound (110 g) of rice per day, one egg per week and occasional vegetables. Clavell believed that if atomic bombs had not been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki he would not have survived

1925-477: The island. He wanted to write a novel about modern day Hong Kong which used some characters from King Rat and descendants of characters from Tai-Pan . Noble House was the first of the "interlocking novels" he planned to write as part of the Asian Saga . Clavell says he "wanted to write a story about two Americans who go Hong Kong to try and usurp Noble House and have a lot of adventures. That's all I knew I

1980-483: The latter's loan of silver. The first half coin was redeemed during the events in the previous novel, and the second coin between the events of Tai-Pan and Noble House . Noble House follows the fate of the third half coin (an illustration of the coin is prominently featured on the cover of several editions of the novel). Struan and Company is based on Jardine Matheson & Company , which continues to exist as an Asian trading company. The chief character, Ian Dunross,

2035-412: The like. My intention is to entertain, perhaps illuminate. If I can transplant people into that buccaneering society of Hong Kong, 1963, maybe they'll get something out of it. If someone pays money for my book and feels satisfied, I'm doing my job.. Writing is rewriting... writing is thinking... If you're lucky, you can start dreaming about a book, and if you're very lucky, you want to wake up... My attitude

2090-504: The novel "needn't be set in 1963. Modern day Hong Kong will do. As De Mille said, a tree is a tree, a jet is a jet." The novel retroactively connects an obscure western movie Clavell wrote and directed to the Asian Saga. The film, Walk Like a Dragon (1960), starred Jack Lord as Linc Bartlett, who is established as an ancestor of a similarly named character in Clavell's novel. The initial print run of 250,000 copies of Noble House

2145-403: The oldest and grandest tradition that fiction knows". His first novel, King Rat (1962), was a semi-fictional account of his prison experiences at Changi. When the book was published it became an immediate best-seller, and three years later it was adapted as a movie . His next novel, Tai-Pan (1966), was a fictional account of Jardine Matheson 's successful career in Hong Kong, as told via

2200-594: The personal account of Paul Brickhill . He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love , for which he also wrote the script. Born in Sydney , Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Charles Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 to 1922. Richard Clavell was posted back to England when James was nine months old. Clavell

2255-475: The region, and IKEA (home furnishings) stores in Hong Kong , Macau , Indonesia and Taiwan . The group and its associates and joint ventures operated over 9,997 outlets, employed over 220,000 people and had total annual sales in excess of US$ 28.2 billion. Dairy Farm was set up in 1886 by Sir Patrick Manson , a Scottish surgeon, and five well known Hong Kong businessmen. They initially aimed to improve

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2310-537: The research he had done for Tai Pan . The character Peter Marlowe was a surrogate for Clavell himself. Clavell said he made one of the American female characters Armenian because it was "the unexpected thing" and because his friend David Hedison was Armenian. "I think it's one of the best things I've done", said Clavell in a 1980 interview. Clavell described his process: All I do is write stories. It's very difficult to get people to read these days with television and

2365-498: The same time from Hong Kong Land. The 7-Eleven convenience store chain in Hong Kong and Singapore was acquired from Jardine Matheson in 1989. Since 1999, Dairy Farm has continued to expand its footprint by acquiring supermarket and other retail operations in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Notably, it also acquired IKEA Hong Kong, Taiwan in 2002 and began Ikea's Indonesian operation in 2014. In May 2012, Dairy Farm bought

2420-474: The supermarket sector in 1964 with the acquisition of Wellcome (fictionalized as Hong Kong General Stores). A Jardine Matheson representative office was established in Australia in 1963 (fictionalized as the next assignment of Linbar Struan). The Ho Pak bank run storyline mirrored the real Hang Seng Bank run in 1965. The two primary banks, Victoria Bank and Blacs, were the fictionalized HSBC and Standard Chartered , respectively. The big set-pieces—the fire on

2475-556: The war. Clavell did not talk about his wartime experiences with anyone, even his wife, for 15 years after the war. For a time he carried a can of sardines in his pocket at all times and fought an urge to forage for food in rubbish bins. He also experienced bad dreams and a nervous stomach kept him awake at night. After the war, Clavell was promoted to war-substantive lieutenant , with effect from 1 August 1942, and to temporary captain on 10 June 1946, A motorcycle crash , however, ended his military career. On 20 July 1948, he

2530-715: Was adapted as a television miniseries for NBC , starring Pierce Brosnan . The miniseries updates the storyline of the novel to the 1980s. Noble House is set in 1963 and serves as a sequel to Clavell's novel Tai-Pan . Ian Dunross, the 10th tai-pan of Struan's and a descendant of founder Dirk Struan, struggles to rescue the company from the precarious financial position left by his predecessor. To this end, he seeks partnership with American millionaire Lincoln Bartlett, while trying to ward off his arch-rival Quillan Gornt, who seeks to destroy Struan's once and for all. Meanwhile, Chinese communists , Taiwanese nationalists , and Soviet spies illegally vie for influence in Hong Kong while

2585-405: Was a huge best-seller, and Clavell sold the film rights for a sizeable amount (although the film would not be made until 1986). Clavell returned to filmmaking. He wrote, produced and directed To Sir, with Love (1967), featuring Sidney Poitier and based on E. R. Braithwaite 's semiautobiographical 1959 book . It was a huge critical and commercial success. Clavell was now in much demand as

2640-418: Was an Australian-born, British-raised and educated, naturalized-American writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war . Clavell is best known for his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell also wrote such screenplays as those for The Fly (1958), based on the short story by George Langelaan , and The Great Escape (1963), based on

2695-406: Was another massive best-seller. Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain and achieved huge ratings. In the late 1970s he spent three years researching and writing his fourth novel, Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963. It was another best-seller and was turned into a miniseries in 1986. Clavell briefly returned to filmmaking and directed

2750-566: Was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an American G.I. father. They had a daughter, Petra Barrett Brando-Corval, born in 1972. Barrett, the longtime personal assistant and later girlfriend of Marlon Brando , raised Petra in England; Brando legally adopted Petra in 1981. She lives in London with her husband Russel Anton Fischer, a film producer. In 1994, Clavell died in Switzerland from

2805-595: Was educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School . In 1940, Clavell joined the Royal Artillery , and received an emergency Regular Army commission as a second lieutenant on 10 May 1941. Though trained for desert warfare, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 he was sent to Singapore to fight the Japanese . The ship taking his unit was sunk en route to Singapore, and the survivors were picked up by

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2860-531: Was going to do beforehand. In the old days—say, Tai-Pan —when I got myself in a hole I could always kill somebody. It wasn't that easy in Noble House ." He started in April 1978 but was interrupted by the filming of the novel Shōgun (1975). Clavell says Noble House took him three years to research and write. He would write every day, five pages a day. He used old newspapers and court records, as well as

2915-457: Was officially discharged from the army on account of disability, leaving with the honorary rank of captain. He enrolled with the University of Birmingham , where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in 1949 (date of marriage sometimes given as 1951). He would visit her on the film sets where she was working and began to be interested in becoming a film director. Clavell entered

2970-851: Was said to have been an ardent individualist and proponent of laissez-faire capitalism , as many of his books' heroes exemplify. Clavell admired Ayn Rand , founder of the Objectivist school of philosophy, and in 1981 he sent her a copy of Noble House inscribed: "This is for Ayn Rand—one of the real, true talents on this earth for which many, many thanks. James C, New York, 2 September 81." Between 1970 and 1990, Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham , located in Surrey in South East England . Clavell had three children. He and his wife had two daughters, Michaela and Holly. Clavell had an affair with Caroline Naylen Barrett, who

3025-526: Was the largest in the 17-year history of Delacorte Press. The initial order of 75,000 copies by Waldenbooks was a record for that chain. Alvin Rabushka of the Hoover Institution said that the novel so well depicted Hong Kong that non-experts would not notice its accuracy. James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell ; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994)

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