Little Paradise

Little Paradise

'I'm afraid, she whispered. "When the war ends... what is going to happen to us?" He put his arm around her and stroked her face. She wanted him to lie, to say that he would take her with him, that they would be together always.'

Mirabel, a seventeen-year-old Australian-born Chinese girl, falls in love with JJ, a handsome Chinese solider stationed in Melbourne during World War II. Mirabel discovers that she is pregnant, but JJ is gone, re-posted to China. Refusing intense pressure to give her son up for adoption, Mirabel sails for Shanghai to find her baby's father. But China is torn by civil war and the Communist army is advancing. Will Mirabel find JJ before it's too late?

Gabrielle Wang is an author and illustrator born in Melbourne of Chinese heritage. Her great grandfather came to Victoria during the Gold Rush. In her twenties she went to search for her roots, living in both China and Taiwan where she studied Chinese language and painting. Her books are a blend of Chinese and Western culture with a touch of fantasy. This novel, Little Paradise, is inspired by her mother's own story.

Gabrielle's novel The Garden of Empress Cassia won the 2002 Aurealis Award, was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and was the CBC Notable Book. The Pearl of Tiger Bay was shortlisted for the 2004 Aurealis Award and The Lion Drummer was named a Notable Book in the 2009 CBC Book of the Year Awards.

Gabrielle's latest novel, A Ghost in My Suitcase, was released in 2009. Gabrielle lives in Melbourne with her partner, Steve, and their two children, Lei Lei and Ren.

Little Paradise
Penguin Australia
Author: Gabrielle Wang
Price: $19.95