by Mee-mee Phipps
If you can get the end of the first chapter with its gruesome account of beheadings in the wake of the Taiping revolution in Suzhou in 1870 you will find this book a worthwhile read.
The story unfolds over the rest of decade as Zhou Yu moves from China to Melbourne and Ballarat during the Australian gold rush then onto Otago and the New Zealand goldfields and back to China where he marries. He returns to New Zealand as he slowly comes to grips with the violence in his past and confronts life and death.
This author has very cleverly woven several stories in this ten year period of Zhou Yu’s life during a colourful period in history, and many of them are worthy of a book of their own.
At the end one question remains, what happens next? I for one can only hope Mee-mee Phipps is planning at least one more book about Yu, Horowhai, Yung and all the others as they live history. Perhaps the book should come with the warning - Reader beware, if you read this it will leave you wanting more!
Publisher: (NZ) Seriously Red Books, 16a Kingfisher Grove, Greenhithe, Auckland 0632; ISBN 978-0-473-22265-9
(US) IUniverse: www.iuniverse.com. print book ISBN 978-1-4759-3268-3
epub 978-1-4759-3269-0
Available: Dear Reader, The Women's Book Shop, Unity
or email: meemee.f.phipps@ gmail.com