Immaculately researched
Description
Young, beautiful and wealthy, widow Charlotte Macleod, leaves Batavia in the 1850s and returns to Singapore for the English education of her two young sons. She is determined not to be drawn back into a secret affair with Chinese triad-member Zhen. Drawing on the real-life historical personalities of the time, Dawn Farnham deftly mixes fact and fiction to paint a vivid portrait of mid-nineteenth century Singapore at a time when triads, piracy and crime were rife.
Reviews
Multiple protagonists and perspectives, both Eastern and Western, and elaborate description transport the reader to a fascinating time and place brimming with mystical and poetic flourishes.
Exceptionally well-written … A beautiful story to relish on every page
Rollicking saga … a brilliant evocation of the settlement in its early days, both in its physical details and socio-cultural nuances.
Thoroughly enjoyable historical romance