As the Earth Turns Silver
Alison Wong's first novel is set in Wellington in the early twentieth century. Haining Street is allegedly full of opium dens, gambling and strange Chinese practices. Katherine is a widow struggling to support her children and Yung is a young Chinese man who runs a vegetable shop... read full description below.
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Quick Reference
| ISBN |
9780143011675 |
| Published |
29 June 2009 by Penguin |
| Format |
Trade Paperback/Paperback |
| Author(s) |
By Wong, Alison |
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Full details for this title
| Interest Age |
All ages |
| Reading Age |
All ages |
| NBS Text |
General & Literary Fiction |
| ONIX Text |
General/trade |
|
| Number of Pages |
288 |
| Dimensions |
Width: 152mm
Height: 230mm
|
| Weight |
Not specified - defaults to 600g |
|
| Dewey Code |
823.3 |
| Catalogue Code |
63556 |
Description of this Book
Alison Wong's outstanding first novel is set in Wellington in the early twentieth century and spans the years 1905 to 1922. For most people in the wider community, the area known as Haining Street has an infamous reputation in the city, allegedly full of opium dens, weird food, gambling and strange Chinese cultural practices. Nice Europeans stay away. But for the tiny number of Wellington Chinese, it is a safe haven, a refuge from the scarcely believable and often violent anti-Chinese racism which pervades the wider Wellington community. It's the setting for an unlikely love story. Katherine is a lonely European widow struggling to support her children. Yung is a young Chinese man who runs a vegetable shop. We also learn he has a wife back in China. At first tentative, their love affair is conducted in secret, away from the daylight. Later, they grow in confidence. But in this climate how can a European woman have a successful relationship with a Chinese man? When her hostile son discovers what is happening, a tragic outcome seems the only possibility.
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Awards & Reviews
| Awards |
Shortlisted for Nielsen BookData New Zealand Booksellers' Choice Award 2010.
|
There are no reviews for this title.
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Author's Bio
As the Earth Turns Silver has been a decade in the making for author Alison Wong, who is a New Zealand-born Chinese and a Wellington poet and fiction writer. Alison's poetry has been widely published, including in book form, and she was the Burns Fellow at the University of Otago in 2002. She has also spent several years living in China.
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