Chinese man using weighing scales: These wood and metal balance scales would have been a very familiar sight in both China and Singapore during the 19th-century. Having a known weight in one pan, allows the trader to weigh the produce he wants to sell in the other. Merchants in both A Strand of Gold and Hope Dares to Blossom would have used such scales.
Elisabeth Conway
Author of the Strands of Shining Gold Trilogy
The Strands of Shining Gold Trilogy
The Strands of Shining Gold Trilogy comprises historical novels that follow the friendships and challenges of people from diverse environments, as they make their way through the exotic world that is mid 19th Century Singapore.
A Strand of Gold
The story begins in Guangzhou, China where two young women from very different backgrounds first meet. Their story continues in Singapore, where their hopes are shattered amid a male dominated world. More about the book >>
Hope Dares to Blossom
Beginning eighteen months after A Strand of Gold concludes, a young botanist has the good fortune to meet Raffles in London before he embarks upon a plant-collecting trip to China. In Singapore, he meets all the people who Raffles misses the most. More about the book >>
Now Available – Living the Legacy
The last tale in the Strands of Gold Trilogy, bringing the lives of the three main characters – Dick, Chin Ming, and Wing Yee – to a point where they are ready to step out on their own.. More about the book >>
Listen to a reading from Living the Legacy
From chapter 1: Pieter Steffens, newly released from 7 years in prison, bumps into someone who may help him in his plans…
Read by John Bruce.
Author notes
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WHAT A LONG WAY IT IS TO PENZANCE ~ especially during a heatwave, trains getting delayed and no air conditioning! Despite all that, running a workshop at the Penzance Literary Festival was an absolute delight. The venue was the Morrab Library, situated in the beautiful Morrab Gardens high above the town. continued...Watch an extract from A Strand of Gold being read
From chapter 3: Chin Ming has crept aboard the Golden Phoenix and has remained concealed in an unused cupboard…
Read by Miyuki Griffin.
The Places
Raffles House: Sir Stamford Raffles built the first official government house in 1822 nearby this present-day representation. The original house was large, but flimsy, made from wood and thatch. In A Strand of Gold, we discover he chose the site because it was cooler at the top of Bukit Larangan than down on the plain, where other Europeans lived. In Living the Legacy, a revamped version had become Government House. It is where Dick visits Kenneth Murchison [the Resident Councillor based in Penang] to report his concerns regarding illegal practices in the Settlement.