Teak

Rice-barges plying their trade at sunset on the Irrawaddy; elephants and men labouring in the humid teak forests of 1852 Burma. Though pleased to have a job, the labourers yearn for better. Main character, Kyaw, has an insatiable interest in wood. But his future is marred by sinister intentions from a Siamese spy persistently intent on gaining recompense for an indenture to slavery. Kyaw needs to escape. He purloins a unique log, selling it on the unscrupulous markets of...
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Rice-barges plying their trade at sunset on the Irrawaddy; elephants and men labouring in the humid teak forests of 1852 Burma. Though pleased to have a job, the labourers yearn for better.

Main character, Kyaw, has an insatiable interest in wood. But his future is marred by sinister intentions from a Siamese spy persistently intent on gaining recompense for an indenture to slavery. Kyaw needs to escape. He purloins a unique log, selling it on the unscrupulous markets of Rangoon.

In Calcutta shipyards, Kyaw embraces the intensity of India. He skilfully works in fine carpentry and defending workers' rights. An uncommon relationship with the shipyard bosses develops.

Joining the Edwin Fox to England, he encounters a collision at sea. Finding London dangerous, he's rescued by a stevedore whose contacts become invaluable. Kyaw develops an enduring friendship with a flamboyant East India Company officer who challenges him on his attitudes to women and what, to them, is important or not.

He's besotted by Mary, a French Huguenot, who's devotedly married to an older London Jew, sharing love, past persecutions and their cancer journey.

The officer co-opts Kyaw as his batman when they sail for the Crimean war. They sniff-out British Government bullion; available to anyone with the tenacity to pluck it from the seabed. Skulduggery repatriates the gold; and devious laundering of Whitehall accounts builds a frigate for the Royal Navy.

Kyaw tries hard to woo Mary, now widowed, but it's only courageously drastic action that gets her attention. In order to live peacefully, free from government auditors, they flee to New Zealand on the Edwin Fox, settling in Akaroa. Kyaw develops a Totara forestry business and attracts the honourable admiration of local Iwi.

The spy tracks down Kyaw, and a corrupt priest holds Mary hostage, making demands Kyaw cannot refuse.
However, there's essential information the spy does not know...