At The Foot Of The Cherry Tree: TikTok made me buy it! A heart-warming emotional new story of forbidden love and family heartbreak from an unforgettable BookTok 2023 romance sensation debut author

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A stirring story of love and hope, based on the incredible true story of Australia's first Japanese war bride and a love that changed a nation forever.

Gordon Parker is just an eager eighteen-year-old Australian boy desperate to fight for his country, and Nobuko 'Cherry' Sakuramoto is a sixteen-year-old girl struggling to survive in Japan in the aftermath of World War II. But when they fall in love, they change the course of history.

When Gordon arrives in Japan, he expects ruthless samurai, angry Japanese men ready to kill Australians at every corner. Instead, he finds Cherry, terrified of ex-enemy soldiers, a 16-year-old survivor of the atomic bomb. Against all the rules and against all odds, they fall in love. But when Gordon discovers the White Australia Policy prevents Cherry coming home with him as his war bride, Gordon does what any 20-year-old soldier would do. He vows to fight. Leaving Cherry alone and pregnant in post-war Japan, Gordon somehow has to convince his family to accept his marriage and wage a desperate campaign against a xenophobic and war-scarred government to allow his wife and his family to come home.

A story spanning seven years and two countries reeling from the aftermath of war, At the Foot of the Cherry Tree is a sweeping and moving novel about faith, trust, and the power of a love that alters history - written by Gordon and Cherry's granddaughter, accomplished scriptwriter, Alli Parker.

Author Bio

Alli Parker is an Australian screenwriter of Japanese heritage who has co-written episodes of Jack Irish, Secret Bridesmaids' Business, and Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries. In late 2018, she made the Top Ten for the Scripted Ink, Screentime and Channel 9 Drama Hothouse Opportunity 2018 and her two TV series, Hart and Empty Nesters, were accepted into the AWG Pathways Program. Her feature script Strain, a finalist in the Open Channel and Australian Writers' Guild New Writers' Competition 2016 (Feature Film Category) and was subsequently accepted into the AWG Pathways Program. Her work as a script editor and coordinator includes Irreverent, Shantaram, Secret Bridesmaids' Business, Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, Jack Irish S1 & 2, Sunshine, and Please Like Me S4.