Book excerpt: From the late nineteenth century to the 1920's, 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 . . . . Alison's debut novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, was over a decade in the making. The novel achieved instant success overseas, with international rights and foreign language editions being sold in the UK, Australia, and parts of Europe and Asia. At home, it was shortlisted for the 2010 Nielsen BookData Booksellers' Choice Award, and won the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award for Fiction, establishing Alison as a major new voice in contemporary New Zealand fiction. ?Alison currently lives in Geelong, Australia, where As the Earth Turns Silver was shortlisted for the 2010 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards. The novel has also been longlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.