The Pearl of Penang

Evie Fraser, paid companion to a crotchety spinster, seems destined for a lonely life. Then out of the blue, a marriage proposal arrives by post. She met the handsome Douglas Barrington just once – at his wedding – but never forgot him. Now widowed, plantation-owner Douglas offers her a new life on the lush, exotic island of Penang. How can Evie resist?

But what are Barrington’s motives in marrying Evie when he barely knows her, and why is he so hostile and moody?

Evie soon finds herself pitched against Douglas on the one hand and the shallow, often spiteful world of the expatriate British on the other. Has she made the biggest mistake of her life?

Flynn’s tenth novel explores love, marriage, the impact of war and the challenges of displacement – this time in a tropical paradise as the threat of the Japanese empire looms closer.

Topics : World War 2, South East Asia, the war in the Pacific, British colonial Malaya, rubber plantations, Japan in WW2, Japanese invasion of Penang, Taoism, Penang, Georgetown, George Town, the Penang Club, Malaysian peninsula, Malaya, Malaysia, arranged marriage, love triangle, romantic fiction, historical fiction, historical romance, award-winning book, Adult fiction prize, prize-winning fiction, tropical island, second time romance, historical novel, twentieth century love story, 20th century romance, rubber planter, rubber planter's wife, planter's wife, love, strong heroine, adopted daughter, stepmother, stepdaughter, saga, romantic family saga, romantic suspense, romance books, historical books, historical novel, wartime fiction, war, invasion, Japanese invasion, Pearl Harbour, Singapore, London after the Blitz, family life, marital tensions, adultery, husband betrayal, outsider

Perfect for fans of Ann Bennett, Lucinda Riley, Dinah Jefferies, Victoria Hislop, Marius Gabriel, Tracy Chevalier, Fiona Valpy, Deborah Swift, Jenny Ashcroft, Petra Durst-Benning, Nicola Cornick, Janet MacLeod Trotter, Jean Grainger, Marion Kummerow, Kate Furnivall, Kristin Hannah. Sharon Maas, Anna Jacobs, Helen Carey, Catherine Hokin, Sarah Lark, Tania Crosse, Rhys Bowen, Angela Petch, Hazel Gaynor