‘We discover so much about the history of Chinese immigration to these shores … Alison Choy Flannigan has woven a story of intricate detail. Her research and scholarship give the book a rich foundation on which she builds a memorable family history. Her material includes photographs, original documentation and press reports of events at the time…͛
Anna Foster, YouByYou Books
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“A story that will fascinate, move and inspire – educate many.”
Commended by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) 8 February 2018
Writer of the week, Universal by Design
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“Through her extensive search for her long lost family across Far North Queensland, Alison Choy Flannigan has shared the history of Cooktown and Thursday Island during the Palmer River Gold Rush from an Australian Chinese perspective.”
“Well-researched: Chinese Whispers – In Search of Ivy is about the history of Cooktown and Thursday Island during the Palmer River Goldrush.”
Cairns Post, 30 January 2018
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“She (Alison Choy Flannigan) pieced together a picture by forensically examining state, national and municipal archives, and court records, to put together the story of how her grandfather and his two brothers came from Hong Kong to Cooktown, Queensland in the 1890s, attracted by the Gold Rush”
North Shore Times (Sydney) 8 February 2018
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Readers who love history, stories of family genealogy and evolution, travel, entrepreneurship, and memoirs will truly enjoy this exploration of one aspect of Chinese history changing and growing through the ingenuity and determination of the Lai family.
Historical Novel Society