AS THE EARTH TURNS SILVER - new edition scheduled for 3 January -

WINNER OF THE NEW ZEALAND POST BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION, 2010

I am delighted to note that Penguin Books are reissuing NZ's outstanding fiction title from 2010 in B format. The cover design I am pleased to note stays the same although with a change in colour tones.

About the book:

From the late nineteenth century to the 1920s, from Kwangtung, China to Wellington and Dunedin and the battlefields of the Western Front — a story of two families.

Yung faces a new land that does not welcome the Chinese. Alone, Katherine struggles to raise her children and find her place in the world.

In a climate of hostility towards the foreign newcomers, Katherine and Yung embark on a poignant and far-reaching love affair…

He came from behind and held her in his arms, told her to look again at earth and sky and water. Could she see how the world turned silver?

People died, he told her, because they were afraid. They did not go out at night on dangerous water. They did not see the earth as it turned overnight to silver.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Raised in Hawke’s Bay and a resident of Titahi Bay, Porirua, Alison Wong is a graduate of Bill Manhire’s Original Composition class at Victoria University and a past recipient of the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. She is a published poet — Alison’s collection of poetry Cup was shortlisted for the Best First Book for Poetry at the 2007 Montana NZ Book Awards — and this is her first published book of fiction.

International rights and some foreign language editions have already been sold to the UK, Australia, France and parts of Asia. The list of countries that As The Earth Turns Silver will be published in continuously grows as Alison’s London agent Toby Eady gathers great interest in the book from around the world. Eady says: “When the manuscript for As The Earth Turns Silver first came in to my office, I knew I had to go to New Zealand and meet its author. It was one of those special moments when one hears a confident new voice speaking from the very first sentence. Alison has written a truly beautiful book about the sadness of racism and why we allow ourselves to be hurt by love. I have been lucky enough to work with some great writers exploring Chinese culture around the world — Alison Wong is one of those.”

Footnote:

Alison Wong was a star performer at the 2010 Auckland Writers & Readers Festival where The Bookman had the honour of interviewing her on stage.

As the Earth Turns Silver | 3 January 2012 | RRP $ 29.99 | B fmt PB | Penguin