An absorbing novel set in 1870s New Zealand about an impossible love between a half-Chinese woman and a young immigrant. Henry arrives in the South Island of New Zealand in search of his sister, who is now living in Charleston, married to a local doctor. It is there that he comes across Mai, who has brought her grandfather for eye surgery. Mai is half-Chinese and the love that ignites between her and Henry seems destined to be snuffed out. With family ties, racial prejudice and the local community conspiring against any match between Henry and Mai, their futures promise to be bleak. But perhaps Mai's grandfather is not the only one destined to see more clearly . . .