A real charmer and a fine debut.' - Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. Mr Chen's Emporium is an enchanting tale of forbidden love and following one's heart...<br/><br/>In 1872, seventeen - year - old Amy Duncan arrives in the Gold Rush town of Millbrooke, having spent the coach journey daydreaming about glittering pavilions and gilded steeples. What she finds is a dusty main street lined with ramshackle buildings.<br/><br/>That is until she walks through the doors of Mr Chen's Emporium, a veritable Aladdin's cave, and her life changes forever. Though banned from the store by her dour clergyman father, Amy is entranced by its handsome owner, Charles Chen ...<br/><br/>In present - day Millbrooke, recently widowed artist Angie Wallace has rented the Old Manse where Amy once lived. When her landlord produces an antique trunk containing Amy's intriguingly diverse keepsakes - both Oriental and European - Angie resolves to learn more about this mysterious girl from the past.<br/><br/>And it's not long before the lives of two very different women, born a century apart, become connected in the most poignant and timeless ways.