'Lambing Flat, New South Wales, Australia was the focus of a gold-rush in the 1860s. ... Shu Cheong had set off (from China) on the arduous journey with his father and uncle hoping to bring back wealth for their village - but they had both died. Along with enduring the hardships of daily life Shu Cheong now carries the burden of guilt that he was not able to send his father's body home ... He begins a diary as an exercise of rather stilted self-expression; it ends as a vent for Shu Cheong's reactions against the events unfolding around him. For on the goldfields, he is caught up in a horror-story of escalating racial hatred.' (Source: Bookseller's website)