Bernadette O'Brien

Opium. A shipwreck. Lost treasure and; a murder mystery: The Kong Meng Legacy is a historical thriller with the lot.

Melbourne, the 1850s. Three strangers’ from around the world are drawn to the Gold Rush. Their lives will collide with consequences that will reverberate to the present day.

Selina Boland is a devastatingly pretty Irish orphan. Horatio Lane-Poole is a lazy bully; his father is about to cut him off and Horatio needs to get rich quick - at any cost. Kong Meng is a wealthy merchant and headman of a secret society. He has vowed to avenge the death of his brother.

Meanwhile, back in the present, it is Spring Carnival. As most of Melbourne prepares to slough off winter and get ready for summer, decisions made by Selina, Kong Meng and Horatio in the 1850s begin to have an impact: Nora, a talented history student starts to ask difficult questions. Aravind, a Tamil refugee finds something that could change accepted “truths” about Australian history and; Winston, a corrupt businessman and Chin a shady character from Melbourne’s “under-world” don’t care about history - they just want to shore up their future, regardless of the consequences.