AustLit

'OYSTER POINT, a small Queensland coastal town is dying.

It takes a combination of two events to breathe life back into the place: the opening of a new mine and a whole host of people prepared to dream.

'EZRA GREEN, as a child with his father, arrived at the beginning of the town and shared the population’s dreams for the future of Oyster Point. Now, a century and a half after his arrival in the town, he watches what was once a magnificent dream slowly die. Although deceased many decades ago, he remains in Oyster Point to protect and assist in the continuation of his legacy.

Following a cyclone that devastates much of the area, entrepreneur GEOFF ROBONSON dares to take a gamble on following his dream. It leads to a planned major redevelopment that sees a supermarket and the Harbour Plaza shopping complex rise from the rubble. But rescuing the town also requires the courage of others to gamble on their dreams. The courage to become involved in the new development, and to trust that the cosmopolitan population explosion predicted to follow the opening of the new mine will turn their dreams into reality. Built on all of those dreams, HARBOUR PLAZA shopping complex is the story of each one, regardless of their nature or ultimate outcome. It also is about the making of a family as it draws together a hybrid mix of characters from diverse backgrounds to create Harbour Plaza’s family of tenants.

Through Ezra Green’s reminiscences, we follow the lives of all those who dared to dream through that first year of the Harbour Plaza story. As it is with dreams, some have happy endings, some turn into nightmares, and often they draw others into them. The dreams on which Harbour Plaza is built are no different but, by drawing in others from around them, those dreams are the fabric of the shopping complex’s discrete community.

'Shed a tear with some, laugh at others, and celebrate triumphs and happy endings but, through it all, get to know the characters and enjoy the friendships they develop.' (Publication summary)