The story is told by Anya, the daughter of Russian parents living in exile in China. Her father is dead and the Japanese invasion and resulting Communist takeover results in the mother being forcibly returned to Soviet Russia and Anya left as a young girl on her own in China. It tells of the oppression of the Asian community surrounding her.
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With the help of a kind Russian family who own the largest nightclub in Shanghai she builds a life, marrying the young night club manager, but war intrudes and she is forced to flee with other Russians as a refuge and an abandoned wife, firstly to a refuge camp in the Phillipines and then on to Australia.
She eventually builds a life for herself in Sydney, while still searching for news of her mother. She marries late in life and has one child. She is told of the death of her mother, but later finds the information incorrect and goes to Russia to find her mother to reunite again.
The review of this Book prepared by Louisa Eggleton
