As the Earth Turns Silver

Katherine is struggling to raise her two children Robbie and Edie, while trying to maintain a distance from her obnoxious husband Donald. Yung arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, when he was just 18 to help his older brother run his fruit and vegetable shop. Through their eyes we see early 20th century Wellington from two very different perspectives.

When Katherine is left widowed her acquaintance with Yung becomes friendship, which evolves into a love affair. But nothing is easy for this pair. Racism and prejudice against the Chinese immigrants is rife, and harsh race based policies are instituted by the government, requiring that Katherine and Yung's relationship remain behind closed doors.

With World War I looming, the specter of show more Donald returns through Robbie, who worshipped his father and inherited many of his opinions, and he causes Katherine yet more pain.

I really enjoyed this book, which was some 10 years in the writing. In her acknowledgements there’s an extensive bibliography and references to Wong’s own ancestor’s experiences in New Zealand. Her research and the years spent crafting this book have paid off as it reads as being very authentic, and gave me an insight into a different Wellington to the one I know.

That authenticity included a court room scene early in the book, where the sentiments expressed by the defendant left me feeling disgusted that such callous attitudes existed, and worse were actively supported.

As The Earth Turn Silver meanders through the years. Once out from Donald’s shadow, with Yung’s encouragement and the beginnings of a women’s movement shifting expectations, Katherine finally begins to live her life. Yung himself has a grace and dignity that allows him to still look on the world without bitterness, despite the treatment he and his family often receive.

The only disappointment was the ending which was quite sudden, and didn't really resolve Katherine’s story in a way that satisfied me.

Wong’s characters are fully realised and her writing style is beautifully subtle. This subtlety is evident in the tensions of Katherine’s family; through her quiet disdain for her husband or in a mother’s concern leading to the reemergence of a sister’s old jealousy.

This is an evocative book, which owes a lot to Wong’s success as a poet. While I was aware of the racism and political policies that early Chinese immigrants endured in New Zealand, the obvious research that went into this book helped me realise the full impact these policies had, not just on the Chinese but also on any European who was friendly with, or supported the Chinese. show less

This is a debut novel for author Alison Wong. Set in Wellington New Zealand in the early twentieth-century it AS THE EARTH TURNS SILVER follows the intersecting lives of two people from two different cultures amid a time when racist policies were being presented to the New Zealand parliament. Chung Yung is a Chinese immigrant who helps his older brother run a fruit and vegetable shop in order to support their families back in China. Katherine McKechnie is struggling to raise two young children after the death of her tyrant of a husband. Katherine’s husband had been a tabloid reporter and supported the racist agitator and murderer Lionel Terry. Unfortunately he was able to implant his racist and intolerant attitude into his young son show more Robbie before he died.

Katherine buys her fruit and vegetables from the store owned by the Chung brothers. There she meets, make friends with, and gradually falls in love with Chung Yung, the younger brother. The resulting affair takes place at night once the children have gone to bed over the course of the next few years until the start of WWI. When Robbie joins up with the New Zealand Army and leaves to fight in Europe, and his sister goes odd to study to become a doctor. The couple finally feel that they could become more open about their relationship. But, as it is wont to do, fate steps in.

Alison Wong is a good writer. The controversial issues she covered such as racism, women’s suffrage and class are handled gently and skilfully. The story is not an in your face read, it plods gently along keeping you hooked until the end arrives, and that is where it came unstuck for me. The end was not a good end for me. Not because it was sad, but it seemed sudden and left me hanging, as if there was more to come but the author forgot to go back and finish. Maybe that was what she had planned all along. But it left me unsatisfied. show less

Opening Sentence: ‘…They had just turned into Tory Street, Past Mount Cook Police Station, Chung-shun and his younger brother Chung-yung, on their way to Haining Street for soupy wontons and noodles …’

This is a debut novel for author Alison Wong. Set in Wellington New Zealand in the early twentieth-century it AS THE EARTH TURNS SILVER follows the intersecting lives of two people from two different cultures amid a time when racist policies were being presented to the New Zealand parliament. Chung Yung is a Chinese immigrant who helps his older brother run a fruit and vegetable shop in order to support their families back in China. Katherine McKechnie is struggling to raise two young children after the death of her tyrant of a show more husband. Katherine’s husband had been a tabloid reporter and supported the racist agitator and murderer Lionel Terry. Unfortunately he was able to implant his racist and intolerant attitude into his young son Robbie before he died.

Katherine buys her fruit and vegetables from the store owned by the Chung brothers. There she meets, make friends with, and gradually falls in love with Chung Yung, the younger brother. The resulting affair takes place at night once the children have gone to bed over the course of the next few years until the start of WWI. When Robbie joins up with the New Zealand Army and leaves to fight in Europe, and his sister goes odd to study to become a doctor. The couple finally feel that they could become more open about their relationship. But, as it is wont to do, fate steps in.

Alison Wong is a good writer. The controversial issues she covered such as racism, women’s suffrage and class are handled gently and skilfully. The story is not an in your face read, it plods gently along keeping you hooked until the end arrives, and that is where it came unstuck for me. The end was not a good end for me. Not because it was sad, but it seemed sudden and left me hanging, as if there was more to come but the author forgot to go back and finish. Maybe that was what she had planned all along. But it left me unsatisfied. show less

As the Earth Turns Silver won the New Zealand Post Book Award in 2010, and tells the intertwining stories of the unhappy McKechnie family and a pair of brothers from China, Yung and Shun, in the early 20th century in Wellington, New Zealand.

Overall it was a good read, but not as good as I'd been hoping. I like my plots more complex, and thought the ending was a bit of a cop out. Not a bad book by any means (the characters were good and believable, the background of New Zealand in the early 20th century was interesting, it was well written, and there was a veracity to the tale of Chinese immigrants to NZ). I think it's just a case of it being oversold to me.

Strong characterisations.

This book had a quite unique feel about it; almost resembling the sort of jerkiness between words in the sound of the Chinese language. Perhaps I should describe it as a sticcato feel. The chapters were short and to the point, although I found the first few chapters extremely difficult to get into.
There isn't much plot, or, at least, the plot is almost totally revealed in the synopsis, so the book is left to rely heavily on the characters. Fortunately they are well drawn and the reader really senses the cultual differences between the Chinese and the New Zealand populations.

I was not aware that there were so many Chinese in New Zealand in the early twentieth century and it was fascinating that the author's show more ancestors had been amongst them. She was therefore in a unique position to write this book.
The reactions of the local population to the build-up of war were also interesting, very much mirroring what was happening in Britain at the time.
As Wong says in her Author's Note, many of the political characters mentioned were factual and while WWI was brewing, equally significant changes were happening within China, which greatly affected the immigrant populations.

When we meet Katherine she is married to the obnoxious Donald. Her two children, Edie and Robbie are studious and tear-away respectively. The whole family is traumatised by Donald's death but they all react differently.
Then Katherine becomes attracted to a local Chinese grocer and the repercussions affect everyone.

An enjoyable read that is lifted by the insights into Chinese immigrant life at the time.
Recommended. show less

A beautiful story, vividly evoking social and political attitudes in New Zealand at the time.
Katherine McKechnie feels a sense of release following the sudden death of her overbearing husband. However life is a struggle for Katherine and her two children. She forms an illicit friendship with a local chinese shop worker, Wong Chung-Yung. Against a background of prejudice and racism the relationship blossoms.
The reader becomes aware of the sacrifices and struggles of these early chinese immigrants to achieve respect and independence in a predominantly white European population.

Well written and an excellent story. Give a picture of both NZ society and the way Chinese immigrants were treated at the beginning of the 20th Century. Part of our history that we NZers should be aware of.