Family circumstances force siblings Ying and Lai Yue to flee their home in China to seek their fortunes in Australia. Life on the gold fields is hard, and they soon abandon the diggings and head to nearby Maytown. Once there, Lai Yue gets a job as a carrier on an overland expedition, while Ying finds work in a local store and strikes up a friendship with Meriem, a young white woman with her own troubled past. When a serious crime is committed, suspicion falls on all those who are considered outsiders.
Evoking the rich, unfolding tapestry of Australian life in the late nineteenth century, Stone Sky Gold Mountain is a heartbreaking and universal story about the exiled and displaced, about those who encounter discrimination yet yearn for acceptance.
‘A staggering recreation of an Australian history too few of us know, and a heart-bruising testament of resilience and love. You’ll be gripped – and moved – from the first page.’ Carrie Tiffany
‘Fresh and vivid, absorbing and tragic. Written with great sensitivity for those on the margins of our violent past.’ Kristina Olsson
‘This book is a triumph. An eloquent and moving reminder of a half-forgotten history, the casual cruelties of colonisation and exile, the tenderness of connection. Beautifully observed.’ Benjamin Law
