It's 1872 and China - still bruised from its
defeat in the two Opium Wars - sends a group of boys, including seven-year-old
Chen Mu, to America to study and bring back the secrets of the West. But nine
years on Chen Mu becomes a fugitive and flees to Umberumberka, a mining town in
outback Australia. He eventually finds peace working for Matthew Dawson, a rich pastoralist.



When the bubonic plague ravages Sydney,
Matthew Dawson's daughter returns to her father's property with her son,
Edward. But it's a lonely life for a small boy surrounded only by adults, and
he soon befriends Chen Mu, forging a friendship that will last a lifetime.



Years later, Edward visits a mysterious and
decadent Shanghai, where he falls in love with Ming Li, the beautiful young
wife of a Chinese businessman. Invading Japanese armies tear the couple apart
and years pass before they reunite, each scarred by the events of World War II
and the Korean War. But will it be only to be torn apart once again?

The Yellow Papers is a story of love, obsession and friendship set
against a backdrop of war and racial prejudice.




'Moving and though-provoking. An outstanding
novel of originality and psychological depth.' Julienne van Loon



'Will satisfy a readership hungry for a
gripping, grandiose read.' Bookseller & Publisher