AustLit

'A story of family and heredity, of the things that bind us together and that wrench us apart. In a small country town in the 1950s, the father of thirteen-year-old twins, Dominic and Mary Quinn, dies unexpectedly. While Dominic shoulders the mantle of family responsibility, free-spirited Mary escapes to the city in pursuit of love and the life of an artist. From there, she explores the bohemian haunts of a rapidly changing post-war city. Dominic and his mother don’t know where Mary is. When a generous widow offers money for Dominic’s education, Dominic returns to school and sets out for university in the city, determined to find his sister. He studies botany and becomes interested in genetics, a field on the brink of great things. He also meets the charismatic Hanna, a German Jewish refugee, psychology student, and devotee of Freud. When Dominic and Mary eventually reunite, they must come to terms with the truth behind their father’s death, a revelation with life-changing potential for them both.' (Publication summary)