Jack Yang, orphaned in a horrific incident during the Tai Ping Revolution in China, seeks a new life far away in the tin mines at Emu Flat in Tasmania, as do many of his fellow Chinese. Emu Flat is also a magnet for misfits and fortune-hunters, including a crooked mine manager, his muscle-bound minder, the evil Wu Ying, and Terry and Lizzie, two working girls in the guise of English teachers. A dangerous swindle by Wu Ying throws them all together. Terry falls in love with Jack but he, recognising Wu Ying as the one who destroyed his family, is too obsessed with exacting a savage revenge... -- From the author's website
