AustLit

'Waratah House, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, was built in 1864 by Jonathan Penrith, a prosperous but eccentric cocky farmer. No one ever called the place by its proper name, however; it was always known as "Cocky's Castle". Now, a century later, Cocky's Castle still belongs to the family, to old Deborah Penrith. Her great-nephews and nieces - Fran and Barry Smeaton, and Linda and Simon Crathie - love to wander in its garden and to explore Jonathan Penrith's "wild hill", which is a natural sanctuary for birds and native flowers.'

'Then, to their dismay, they learn that Aunt Deborah plans to sell Cocky's Castle and its land. The old place is too large for her, its upkeep too costly. It is Fran who sees the announcement of a competition for Historic Homes, with a substantial cash prize... The four cousins band together to renovate Cocky's Castle and enter it in the competition. They spend all their free time working on the old house, persevering in spite of setbacks. Gradually Cocky's is restored to something of its Victorian grandeur. Fran, the artistic one, is especially bound up in the task - and she is the one who is most dismayed by the unforeseen calamity that finally falls upon the house.

'But is it a calamity? Out of the tragedy springs hope and a new solution... The birds will continue to live unmolested on the wild hill, among the blue-gums, messmates, the waratahs and sweet boronia, and the dignity of Cocky's Castle will live still in memory.' (Dust jacket)