Until the Red Leaves Fall: A moving story of secrets and betrayal from the bestselling author of At the Foot of the Cherry Tree

Author of the bestselling and much-loved At the Foot of the Cherry Tree, Alli Parker, returns with another engrossing and moving novel of courage and conviction, Until the Red Leaves Fall.

Emmy Darling has a secret. She has a few. Her lemon meringue pie is a recipe from a women's magazine, she's always wanted to be a playwright, and the best parts of her husband Sebastian's plays are the scenes she's written during edits. But when charismatic theatre impresario and leading lady, Virginia van Belle, insists Emmy write about her wartime experiences as the lead play in her 1957 season, Emmy is faced with every writer's dilemma.

Because Emmy's biggest secret is that her name is actually Emiko Tanaka. She and her Japanese-Australian family were arrested, brutally split up and held in internment camps by the Australian government after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. And it's this secret that Virginia wants to bring to the masses.

As Emmy struggles to determine where the edges of truth and fiction blur, Virginia's vision of the story morphs into something more sensationalised. Emmy can't ask for Sebastian's help - he has his own history with Virginia - but she confides in Isadora Westlake, a dancer at a nearby coffee lounge, who knows a thing or two about keeping secrets.

As opening night looms and rewrites threaten to transform Emmy's personal history into something unrecognisable, wounds of the past are torn open, jeopardising everything Emmy holds dear. As the cast take their places and the curtain goes up, Emmy must decide which is right: tell the story or tell the truth.

From barbed-wire fences to the lush velvet seats of the Belleview Theatre, Until the Red Leaves Fall is a stunning tale of secrets and betrayal in the aftermath of war that asks: what happens when you let the truth get in the way of a good story?

PRAISE FOR UNTIL THE RED LEAVES FALL:

'Parker's elegant command of novelistic craft makes for a delicate, progressive historical novel' Sydney Morning Herald

'A velvet-lined tale of secrets - alluring, heart-stopping and beautifully crafted' Madeleine Cleary, The Butterfly Women

'A sweeping, gorgeously told story of survival, identity and the power of truth' Emma Pei Yin, When Sleeping Women Wake

'Thoughtfully structured and elegantly told, Until the Red Leaves Fall offers a tender, resonant portrait of a woman learning to speak her truth in a post-war world that prefers silence ... a moving novel.' Books+Publishing

'The layers of this book are as juicy as they are satisfying. Alli Parker masterfully blends historic research, interesting characters and delicious details ... She makes [page-turning] easy.' Australian Womens Weekly

© 2025 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9781038100610

Release date

Audiobook: 29 July 2025