Maiden voyage

From Goodreads:

Denton Welch's first novel Maiden Voyage (1946) recounts Welch's adventures as a boy when, after running away from his English public school, he was sent to Shanghai to live with his father for a year. Welch's keen observations - of his tortured relationship with his distant father, and the colonial milieu of pre-war China - dominate this painfully honest narrative. Exact Change's publication of Maiden Voyage marks the bringing back into print of all three of Denton Welch's novels, a cause for celebration among the growing number of fans who have embraced his beautiful and courageous writing.