Miriam Sved: Illuminated Ruins
About
We are delighted to host the launch of Miriam Sved's novel, Illuminated Ruins.Hong Kong, 1956. On the heights of The Peak, the only way to survive the past is to bury it. For Uri Weiss and his wife, Lujza, life in the British colony is a tailored mask. Hungarian Jewish doctors who escaped the wreckage of Europe only to endure Japanese occupation, they have rebuilt themselves through a fragile, assimilated restraint.
The arrival of the Mackays upends this peace. Hugh is a charismatic American with shadowy connections and Nancy is his effortlessly poised wife. As the families entwine, their daughters – Millie and Anne – form a bond so intense it threatens to consume them.
While the adults navigate the social rituals of the colony, the children retreat to the island’s illuminated ruins. Playing among bombed-out shells and wartime bunkers, they mirror a world of missions and cover stories. But when Anne reveals a truth Millie’s parents have kept unspoken for a decade, the foundations of their universe fracture.
As the Suez Crisis ignites, the children’s games lead them from the safety of The Peak into the Triad-controlled underworld of the Walled City. In a landscape of stolen identities, both families must finally confront the violence they can no longer outrun.
Free, but bookings are essential.
Date
Thursday 29 October 2026 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM (UTC+10)Location
Readings Emporium
Shop 1, level 1, 287 Lonsdale Road, Melbourne Victoria 3000
Contact Form
Miriam Sved: Illuminated Ruins
Resend recently purchased tickets to our events to your email.
Enter email to start search
You can review the event organiser's terms and conditions here.