As the Earth Turns Silver

The story runs from the late 1800s into the 1920s and moves from Kwangtung province in China to Wellington, Dunedin and the trenches of the Western Front, following two families. Yung, a Chinese greengrocer, has arrived in a land that is hostile to people like him. Katherine McKechnie, newly widowed, is left to bring up her children alone and work out where she belongs. A chance encounter between them becomes a friendship and then a love affair, which they must hide from a society suspicious of the Chinese. On the eve of the First World War, while young men everywhere are caught up in patriotic fervour, Katherine's son Robbie discovers the secret and resolves to defend the family's honour himself.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Historical, Love, Migration (assigned by AI)

Set in

New Zealand, China, late 19th century–1920s

First published

2009

Author's age

49 when first published

ISBN

9780143011675 (Penguin, New Zealand)

9780143567110 (Penguin, New Zealand)

9781447288046 (Picador, United Kingdom)