Description
About the Author

This is the first volume in a sweeping saga of historical fiction that spans the first 100 years of Singapore.
Features real historical people, such as Raffles and Farquhar, as well as fictional characters that bring old Singapore to life.

Set against the establishment of Singapore in 1819, Forbidden Hill (Singapore Saga, Vol. 1) is a tale of intrigue and adventure, love and betrayal, bravery and tragedy, that follows the fortunes of Scottish merchant adventurer Ronnie Simpson and the resourceful Englishwoman Sarah Hemmings. Their blood-feud with an American gunrunner reachers its climax in a confrontation with Illanun pirates and an epic battle in the South China Sea.

The protagonists narrative is interwoven with those of Raffles and Farquhar, and those of European, Chinese and Arab merchants, coolies and concubines, Malay royalty and female slaves, Indian boatmen and British soldiers. As the ghosts of the rajahs from old Singapura fade into the shadows of Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill, the new settlers and local Malays forge their linked destinies in the rapidly developing emporium of the Eastern seas.

Forbidden Hill is book #1 in the Singapore Saga, a series of historical fiction that spans the first one hundred years of Singapore, and is followed by Chasing the Dragon and Hungry Ghosts.
John D. Greenwood was born in Elgin, Scotland, and educated at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He is currently a professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he specializes in the history of psychology. He is the author of six books and numerous academic papers. He was a lecturer in the department of philosophy at the National University of Singapore from 1983-1986, when he first fell in love with Singapore, her people and her history. He returned as senior visiting scholar in 1999-2000 and as visiting professor in 2008-2009.

He considers NUS to be his second academic home. He also returns regularly to Singapore to visit old friends and old haunts, and considers a trip to Pulau Ubin followed by chilli or pepper crab at in the evening at Changi Village to be a perfect day. He lives in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Authors

Forbidden Hill