This four-volume series set against the backdrop of colonial Singapore comprises The Red Thread: A Chinese tale of love and fate in 1830s Singapore; The Shallow Seas: A Tale of Two Towns, Singapore and Batavia; The Hills of Singapore: A Landscape of Loss, Longing and Love; and The English Concubine: Passion and Power in 1860s Singapore. Drawing on real-life historical personalities and places from 19th-century Singapore, author Dawn Farnham brings to life the heady atmosphere of Old Singapore where piracy, crime, triads and tigers are commonplace. This intense and passionate four-volume romance follows the struggle of two lovers: Charlotte Macleod, sister of Singapore’s Head of Police, and Zhen, triad member and once the lowliest of coolies who beats the odds to become a wealthy Chinese merchant. Opium, murder, incest, suicide, passion and love; a heady combination in the sin city of the south seas.

The editor initially provided photographs of the period for the cover designs, however, the diversity of images made it difficult to create a consistent visual identity. Seeking an iconic series design, our cover cooks used windows from facades of colonial shophouses through which different designs and characters illustrate the complex strands between Colonial ideals and multiethnic cultural expression. Characters from period portraits were digitally cut out and integrated into each cover, matching the characters' ethnicity with the features of each architectural design. The packaging of a box set was also designed by our cover cooks to contain all four volumes of the quartet.