The Voyagers, Shanghai and a Love Story

I met the great Australian writer Mardi McConnochie a few years back when she visited Shanghai, spoke at the Shanghai International Literary Festival and then hung around in the city a while. She was rather impressive. Seems she’s put her Shanghai time to a bit of use with her new novel that several people down under have raved to me about. Shanghai along with Singapore and Blitzed London feature in her new novel The Voyagers. As usual no review here but the publisher’s blurb – great to see Shanghai popping up in a novel.

All he had to do was look carefully enough , ask the right questions, find the right people, keep sailing on, and he would find her. In 1943, Stead arrives in Sydney Harbour hoping to spend his shore leave with Marina, a woman with whom he shared three magical days before the war. But Marina is gone, and has been missing for almost five years. And so begins an extraordinarily powerful and compelling journey – across the seas and the great stages of the war – as Stead retraces the steps of the one woman he has truly loved. Taking you from London after the Blitz to the booming Shanghai and fallen Singapore, The Voyagers is a book you won’t be able to put down. An unforgettable and breathtaking novel of heartbreak, courage and unwavering love. ‘A deeply moving story of heartbreak, courage and unwavering love.’ Hobart Mercury Praise for Coldwater:’Mardi McConnochie’s electrifying first novel is beautifully sustained’ The Age