THE MONSOON BRIDE

Burma, 1930. Winsome is young, just married and filled with anticipation. Her new husband Desmond is a stranger - one of the suitors chosen for her and the other mixed-race girls from among the men who apply to the orphanage. But as the night train rattles towards her new home, she sees that in this uncertain destiny there is promise; possibility. She knows she is headed for a new life in the metropolis.

She does not know about Rangoon, this city cradled in the arms of rivers. That it is about to be torn apart in the struggle between its ancient owners and new masters. That it will seduce her, possess her senses and change utterly her notion of what kind of woman she can be. When she meets Jonathan - when the monsoon comes - she begins to find out.

Michelle Aung Thin was born in Rangoon in 1962. She grew up in Canada, worked in advertising in London, and settled in Australia in 1998. She now lives in Melbourne with her family and is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing. THE MONSOON BRIDE was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript.