THE RED THREAD

Like Chinese silk, The Red Thread is by turns gentle and strong, exploring a love that breaks through the divide of race and culture, a love that is both deeply physical and a marriage of souls. Set against the backdrop of 1830s Singapore, where piracy, crime, triads and tigers are commonplace, this romance follows the struggle of two lovers: Zhen, once the lowliest of Chinese coolies and triad member, later chosen to marry into a wealthy family of Chinese merchants, and Charlotte, a young Scots girl, sister of Singapore's Head of Police. Two souls bound together by the invisible threads of fate, yet separated by bonds of tradition and culture.

By incorporating real figures from Singapore's historical past, Dawn Farnham brings to life the heady atmosphere of Old Singapore, where beliefs and customs clash and jostle in the struggle to make a life and create understanding between peoples from different worlds. This is Dawn Farnham's first novel. She has lived all over Asia but proclaims a soft spot for Singapore's surprisingly rich history.