DRAGON WIND RISING

DRAGON WIND RISING








Now in e-format with a stunning new cover, this is the first of two books about the adventures of Lea Stafford.

DRAGON WIND RISING is the story of Australia's first female foreign correspondent, the enterprising Lea Stafford, who has arrived in Peking in 1900, unaware of the gathering storm of anti-western feeling. She is fascinated by the colour and pageantry of the mysterious Forbidden City and the contrasting life of the crowded alleys surrounding it.

While screaming hordes of Boxers stream across China, slaughtering missionaries and promising death and destruction to all foreigners, western leaders procrastinate. They continue with their lavish dinner parties and soirees, assuring one another that the Empress would never permit them to be harmed.

However, the reactionary Iron Hats within the palace prevail, and soon the Boxer hordes are joined by military units which surround the legations. The hated 'round eyes' find themselves under siege, bombarded and cut off from all support.

Amidst the mayhem Lea finds love and commitment in the unlikely person of Michael Attwood, a mysterious trader in antiquities with the shadiest of reputations, both in business and in his dealings with the ladies. But it seems all too late. For 55 days their lives hang in the balance, as the embattled representatives of the western nations begin to starve behind their crumbling walls, fighting off attack after attack while searching the horizon for help that does not come.