Showing results by narrator "Ming-Zhu Hii" in All Categories

The dazzling story of family, passion, secrets and vengeance, woven through the hardships of both World Wars and revealing the intriguing history of the Palace, the opulent Blue Mountains hotel famed for its luxury and mysterious owner. A sweltering summer's day, January 1914: the charismatic and ruthless Adam Fox throws a lavish birthday party for his son and heir at his elegant clifftop hotel in the Blue Mountains. Everyone is invited except Angie, the girl from the cottage next door.

When Sunflower, a young city girl, moves to the countryside, she grows to love the reed marsh lands - the endlessly flowing river, the friendly buffalo with their strong backs and shiny round heads, the sky that stretches on and on in its vastness. However, the days are long, and the little girl is lonely. Then she meets Bronze, who, unable to speak, is ostracised by the other village boys. Soon the pair are inseparable, and when Bronze's family agree to take Sunflower in, it seems that fate has brought him the sister for whom he has always longed.

Starting a new life in a new city, in a new country, Ying Ying and her family adopt a stray dog, the much-loved Max. As changes in Ying Ying's life bring frustration and sadness as well as surprise and joy, quite unexpectedly she realises that what remains most constant in her life is her dog. Starting with Max captures the journey of a migrant in mid-life crisis struggling to come to terms with her new identity in a foreign land. Ying Ying finds herself driven by her dog to pursue a life of action and meaning, persistence and determination.