Ai is the daughter of Cambodian refugees and her ordinary life in the small Australian town of Whitlam is exactly what her parents hoped for when they fled from the Khmer Rouge. Ai and her friends – Brigitte, Bowie, Tin, Aysum, Nadine and Sying – are busy with new romances, exams and plans for life after school.

But it is the late 1990s and anti-Asian sentiment is rising across the country. On the nightly news, Ai sees Asian immigrants shown in a montage of drugs, unemployment and gang violence, stigmatising Whitlam and its residents.

Although she encounters racism, Ai doesn’t have the knowledge or agency to address or challenge it. In her final school year, the bigotry spirals into senseless violence that will change the life of Ai and all her friends. It is years later that Ai is forced to look back and consider her role in these events.

Others Were Emeralds is a lyrical coming-of-age story that beautifully captures the life of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, where innocence crashes into the harsh realities of the adult world. Leav has crafted a poetic and emotional journey through trauma, guilt and loss that ends on a note of hope.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Novelist and poet Lang Leav was born in a refugee camp when her family were fleeing the Khmer Rouge Regime.

She spent her formative years in Sydney, Australia, in the predominantly migrant town of Cabramatta. Among her many achievements, Lang is the winner of a Qantas Spirit of Youth Award, Churchill Fellowship and Goodreads Reader’s Choice Award.

Lang has been featured on CNN, SBS Australia, Intelligence Squared UK, Radio New Zealand and in various publications, including Vogue, Newsweek, the Straits Times, the Guardian, and the New York Times.

A stirring coming-of-age novel about guilt, loss, love and memory. Others Were Emeralds explores the inherent danger of allowing our misconceptions to shape our reality.

Visit Lang Leav’s website