Twenty-five years in the making, REGRETS is Sharon Chung’s literary masterpiece and a once-in-a-lifetime publishing event. This is DOWNTON ABBEY meets MATCH POINT in pre-handover Hong Kong, both a haunting family saga and a dark retelling of the classic Chinese novel A DREAM OF RED MANSIONS.

When Yat-Ping visits his aunt, Chun, at the Wong Mansion on Victoria Peak, he has no idea he is about to enter a world of passion, intrigue, and madness. Chun is Mr. Wong’s second wife, a frail and sickly woman who cannot set foot outside. She beseeches Yat-Ping to look after her willful daughter, Po-Chuen, by becoming her private tutor. A bond develops between the cousins, yet Mr. Wong deems it inappropriate and fires Yat-Ping, unexpectedly triggering a string of tragic events.

Although forced to leave, Yat-Ping remains inseparable from the Wongs’ affairs. In the years that follow, he is befriended by Cheng-Yiu, Mr. Wong’s adopted son and designated heir, who is a shrewd and cold-blooded manipulator; he falls in love with Kam-Chuen, daughter of Mr Wong and his first wife, only to discover that she’s pregnant with someone else’s child; he is beaten up by Ching Hon, the family driver and son of the housekeeper, who sees him as a threat; he is seduced by Wang-Tai, the sexy Portuguese heiress about to marry Cheng-Yiu; and he is equally confused and enamored by Po-Chuen, now a beautiful young woman, who still recalls his tutor sessions with fondness.

Soon, a death in the swimming pool will threaten to shatter the whole family, and a kidnapping plot gone awry will reveal something far more sinister.