AustLit

'Sarah Erskine was the third generation of the McGowan tea planter family in India. Her life underwent a major upheaval when she was wrenched from the life she had known and, like so many 'expats' at that time, at age seventeen, she was sent 'home' to Glasgow. There, while being groomed for her entry into society, her life was spent among the entrepreneurial giants of Glasgow. Marriage took her again to plantation life during the dying days of the Caribbean sugar industry. Then, in the death throes of that industry, she returned to spend more than a decade in Glasgow during which she was widowed. A chance meeting with an old friend and his enthusiastic tales of an embryonic Australian sugar industry finally inspired her to leave Glasgow to make a new life for herself in a rough settlement on the bank of a river in a new country, and in a fledgling but familiar industry. Sarah's story takes the reader across five countries over the decades from the 1820s to the 1860s.' (Publication summary)

'Anthea Granger inherits a mansion in the small seaside community of Charlotte Cove. For well over a century, the Granger family has owned the property. The community believes the house is cursed. It is on the day she is to move in that she learns of the place's sinister reputation. It is made clear to her that Wellsprings is an unsuitable house for a young woman, particularly one on her own.

'With the help of her friend, Suzanne Bennett, Anthea embarks on a quest to discover the origins of the rumours surrounding the house. Her quest to discover the truth takes her back through several generations of her family's history. Almost from the outset, she learns that getting to know those ancestors is a journey of discovery involves both tragedy and distress. Should she heed the townsfolk's warnings and leave Charlotte Cove, or persist with uncovering the past and the truth behind the myths'

'The story of Wellsprings history is one of domestic noir with a generous helping of mystery on the side.'  (Publication summary)

'What do you do when you are a middle-aged retired spinster and your life is in a rut?You take yourself off for a holiday at an exotic location.And that is exactly what almost 50 year old spinster Marjorie Leggett decides to do. Her new life in early retirement lacks direction, excitement and everything else. It is 1965 and so many exotic destinations beckon. Her friend convinces her that a trip to Istanbul on the Direct Orient Express is the answer. Although a quivering mixture of trepidation and excitement at the prospect of undertaking something so far removed from her normal life, Marjorie makes the booking. As she boards the train, Marjorie's hope is that her trip to Istanbul will prove an interesting adventure. What actually happens is beyond her wildest imagination.' (Synopsis)

'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)