In 1880 the Government of Canada commenced construction of a national railroad that was promised to British Columbia as a condition of entering Confederation in 1871. The section of the railroad through the Fraser Canyon at Yale would prove to be the most formidable of construction projects. The contractor, Andrew Onderdonk, was in need of manpower to finish his section of the line, and to fill that need he contracted with Chinese firms for labourers direct from China.

In Danial Neil´s epic story we follow the journey of Li Tat, an indentured labourer, from his home in China´s Guandong Province to the perilous cliffs of the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia. Bandits and all manner of danger await the young Li Tat as he ventures down the Pearl River to Canton and on to Hong Kong to gather with other labourers bound for the railroad. Along the way he meets the kind missionary, Patrick Moon, who befriends Li Tat and accompanies him to Gum Sahn, Gold Mountain—the new world. Flight of the Dragonfly is the untold story of the faceless souls who helped build Canada, with their blood, their humanity, and their lives.

About the Author Danial Neil grew up in the diverse, rugged landscape of British Columbia. His father was a story-teller and young Danial listened well. His fiction and poetry articulate a close kinship with the land, an ever present backdrop to the lives of his characters. Danial has won the Poetry Award four times at the Surrey International Writer´s Conference. He lives in the South Okanagan of British Columbia. Visit Danial Neil's Blog.