AustLit

'Why didn't my mother tell me about this wedding? Who was the plump, broad-shouldered man she married so long ago? And what of my father, who came to visit us at Christmas?

'Growing up in her grandparents' house, Sally delights in her father's rare visits. But why does he leave so soon and where does he go? What are the secrets hiding in Sally's mother's navy-blue suitcase?

'Throughout her unusual childhood in Yorkshire and adventurous life travelling the world, the mystery remains unsolved. Sally dines with the Bedouin, climbs aboard an oil tanker at midnight for a romantic rendezvous, and confronts black magic. After twenty years a nomad Australia becomes home and her stories continue, enough to fill a suitcase or two of her own.' (Publication summary)