MALAYA, 1936-1946

A fine red mist ballooned in the crisp mountain air. The sniper’s projectile severed the wrist, flinging the pistol as blood pulsed in spurts. The man’s eyeballs grew vast, staring at the hand dangling grotesquely by the fleshy remnants of his cuff. Then his screams began.

Penang, the idyllic Pearl of the Orient. A free trade port within the Straits Settlements of British Malaya.

On the lush, balmy island, the wealthy and elite Müller family - a Bavarian clan rooted since the mid-1800s - lives with a lurking crisis. One of identity.Do they see themselves as German, British or Malayan? At their heart, are they European, Asian, or bicultural?

The saga begins before the war, where a cross-class and interracial romance blooms between Daniel Miller, an heir, and Shu Mei, the beautiful Eurasian daughter of their Chinese housekeeper. Against their parents’ censure, they draw even tighter. But vile tragedies soon shatter their bliss, ripping them apart. In grief, they flee their isle. Each turning to escapism.

It vaults to fascism’s surge in London. A brother’s soul rests cosily with their Eastern homeland, and by this token, to Britain. Like their father. The other, their mother’s favoured, lies with the Führer Adolf Hitler and the Fatherland. A belief she holds dear.

World War II erupts. The Blitzkrieg in France storms ahead, followed by Dunkirk, and selfless courage in Norway. The siblings duel in mortal combat in Europe, and the betrayals, past and present, emerge.

Months later, Japan sets Malaya afire. One returns as an SOE Force 136 operative, while another grows into a lethal sniper with the Resistance. Shocking events ensue, and treachery soars to new heights. They face brushes with death in war, but their battles closer to home would prove far deadlier.

Can they surpass the obstacles and return to their island paradise … unbroken?

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A forbidden romance WWII fiction circling hidden clan secrets, sibling hatred and social barriers. An epic and tragic tale about a coming of age through a journey of survival and hope. And at its centre, a lasting love.