AustLit

'South Australia, 1866. Beautiful but destitute Abigail is forced to marry an old landowner who desperately needs heirs. But on their wedding night something terrible happens ...

'Abbey flees Martindale Hall. She has no memory of the previous night, but no one believes her. With no one to trust, she seeks refuge in the neighbouring town of Clare. There, her luck seems to change. She meets Jack Hawker, who is looking for someone to tend to his mother on the remote farm Bungaree Station. Jack hires Abbey for the job. But Abbey's respite is short-lived. Days later, a visitor from Martindale Hall turns up on the farm, accusing Abbey of a horrible crime ... Will Jack believe her? Or is she doomed to a life of penance?'  (Publication summary)

'Tara has lost her voice. She knows there was pain and fear but she cannot remember anything else. Now she can only answer the questions with silence.

'Minnie has buried her voice for years, losing herself in silence and isolation, keeping her secrets safe and her broken heart concealed.

'Liam finds refuge in silence; it is a place to go to when he cannot get the words out.

'Kate cannot speak for herself just yet. People are only separated from each other by moments, by fate and coincidence.

'One teenage mistake, one shocking choice and one terrible night will lead to courage found, voices raised and the truth finally spoken.' (Publication summary)

'Bram Deagan has a thriving trading business, a beautiful wife and a growing family. Since he has a gift for matchmaking and wishes to see his friends Dougal and Mitchell happily married too, he doesn't hesitate to suggest they find wives.

'In England, Eleanor Prescott has not forgotten the ship's captain who was a true friend to her. Dougal McBride told her to come to him if she was free. When her ailing husband dies, she wonders if she dare return to Western Australia. Will Dougal still want her after nearly a year?

'Mitchell Nash has asked his cousin in England whether he knows any suitable lady. Though what sort of woman would make such an arduous voyage to marry someone she's never met? For one widow, however, desperate to keep her young son from a cruel relative's clutches, Mitchell's invitation is a lifeline she will grasp with both hands.

'Both Eleanor and Jacinta bravely take a huge risk on the chance of happiness and set off for Australia. But for Jacinta at least, the troubles of her old life can't be easily left behind.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Bram Deagan dreams of bringing his family from Ireland to join him in Australia, where he now runs a successful trading business. But when a typhus epidemic strikes Ireland, it leaves the Deagan family decimated. And, with other members of the family scattered round the world, there is only Maura Deagan left to look after her orphaned nieces and nephew.

'Forced to abandon her own ambitions, and unsure whether she is ready to become a mother figure to three young children, Maura recognises that their only hope is to join Bram in far-away Australia. So they set sail on the SS Delta, which will carry them there, via the newly opened Suez Canal.

'It is only when a storm throws her and fellow passenger Hugh Beaufort together that Maura realises this journey may also give her a chance to realise a dream she set aside years ago – to have a family of her own. That is, until someone from Hugh’s past threatens to jeopardise everything.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Singapore in the 1860s is exotic and yet terrifying for a penniless Englishwoman, alone and vulnerable after her mother's death. Too pretty to obtain a governess's job, Isabella accepts an offer from a Chinese merchant, Mr Lee, to teach him English and live with his family.

'Two years later Bram Deagan arrives in Singapore, determined to make his fortune as a trader. Mr Lee sees a way to expand his business connections to Australia and persuades Isabella to marry Bram.

'They set up a bazaar in Fremantle, much bigger than the shop Bram had originally planned.He has help from other people, but the ideas are his and Isabella's.

'But the past casts a long shadow, and Bram and his wife face unexpected dangers. Will they find a way to achieve their dream of a successful trading business? And can they find happiness and love with each other?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Perth, Western Australia, 1913: When her conservative family tries to force Emily into an arranged marriage with a much older, wealthy man, she takes destiny into her own hands and escapes her strict father and overbearing brothers. She embarks on a ship to North-Western Australia to take up employment as a private seamstress for a rich farming family, who welcome her with open arms. Surrounded by the breathtakingly beautiful and remote landscapes of the Kimberly region, Emily starts to believe that happiness and love really are possible in her new life. But storm clouds are gathering, and as the men of Kimberley march off to war in Europe, Emily must step up to prove herself against all the odds. And that's when things start to turn out much more differently than she ever could have imagined ...'

Source: Publisher's blurb (English language ed.)

'London. 1957. Erin Forsyth’s family own two art galleries in the London area – one in Knightsbridge and the other in White Chapel. When her playboy fiancé cheats on her, she takes revenge by outing him during their wedding ceremony before she runs away to outback Australia with her Uncle Cornelius who deals in precious gems. They set up shop in a dugout in the wild outback town of Coober Pedy, where life gets really interesting. Erin falls in love with Jonathan, an opal miner, who finds himself left with a half aboriginal girl [sic] when her father is killed in a fight with another opal dealer. Unbeknown to him, he’s also left in possession of one of the most precious opals ever found, the Olympic Australis and that puts his and Erin’s life in danger.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'England, 1941: Lara Penrose is a young teacher who is transferred to Australia as a "punishment." She finds herself in a remote town near the idyllic tributary of the Mary River. At first Lara is delighted, until she learns the river is home to hundreds of crocodiles who frequently besiege the hamlet, keeping the villagers in fear. The young teacher soon takes matters into her own hands by hiring a crocodile hunter. She gets wrapped up in his charm, which starts to put her already delicate relationship with Dr. Jerry at risk.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Nurse Elena Fabrizia and handsome doctor Lyle Macallister fall in love at the end of the war. Lyle goes home to break up with his Scottish sweetheart, but she tells him she’s pregnant. So he marries Millie and breaks Elena’s heart. Elena also discovers she’s having Lyle’s baby. Keeping the secret from everyone but her mother, she goes along with her father’s plan to marry an older Italian man. She passes the baby off as his and they all go to live in the Australian outback town of Winton. In a loveless marriage, on an isolated and unprofitable cattle property, life for Elena is unbearable. Meanwhile in Scotland, Lyle’s life is also tragic when he loses his only son with Millie. To escape, he takes up a position as a flying doctor in Australia where Elena’s first born is suffering a mystery illness. Lyle treats the boy, unaware that he’s his own flesh and blood. It’s jealous Millie who discovers the truth about the boy and destroys many lives before Lyle and Elena find each other again.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Abigail Scottsdale is the beautiful daughter of a miner. Left alone after her father’s death, the elderly and unscrupulous mine owner lures her to his house and then drugs and marries her. Ebenezer dies on their wedding night, and fearing she is to be blamed, Abbey flees the estate. Meanwhile Ebenezer’s estranged son is outraged when he finds out his father’s young bride has inherited everything that belongs to him and sets out to put things right, anyway he can. Even though he believes Abbey is a cunning woman who likely killed his father, he believes courting her is the means to an end but she’s taken up the position of Jack Hawker’s mother’s companion on Bungaree Station. It’s a difficult position, as Sybil Hawker dislikes and distrusts her, and she also has Jack’s jealous girlfriend Clementine to deal with. Jack becomes protective of Abbey and it’s just as well as Heath had a deadly plan to execute.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Jacqueline Gordon-Smith’s family are fleeing an angry mob in Atlanta when the family car crashes, killing her mother and brother. Eighteen years later, after her wealthy husband has a ship board affair on the way to Australia, she finds herself alone and virtually penniless. She befriends two women set to marry lonely farmers and travels with them to the Flinders Ranges where she becomes a housekeeper for widower Ben Dulton. Determined to be rid of her, Ben’s four sons and an eccentric, aboriginal woman [sic] play numerous dirty tricks on her. But Jackie digs in, equally resolute to survive the endless heat, dust and flies, and prove she has worth. Jackie’s only consolation is the gorgeous Nick Dulton, Ben’s brother, who rescues her when she’s kidnapped by the local aboriginal clan. She discovers she’s pregnant to Nick, but the course to true love is not smooth when she must deal with a love rival, four hostile boys, and a repentant ex husband who’s been conned out of his money by the woman he threw Jackie over for.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Australia, 1933: Arabella Fitzherbert, a 19-year-old English lady travels with her parents to Australia as they hope the dry climate will help their only daughter recover from her chronic illness. With the Depression in full swing, the wealthy Fitzherbert family will stop at nothing to pamper their sickly daughter. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when Arabella falls from the passenger train and finds herself in the desert - all alone. Injured, she watches helplessly as the train pulls away, leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere. Nobody notices her missing until what is presumed to be too late. Arabella's fate might have been sealed if not for a group of Aborigines who herd her to Marree, a small town in the outback, cut off from the rest of the world. While her parents believe her dead, Arabella is on her own for the first time in her life.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (English language edition).

'When the tiger is seen again in the Tantanoola area, young reporter, Eliza Dickens begs her boss for a chance to cover the story. Against his best judgment, he agrees, but Eliza's mother is set against the idea. Eliza's aunt has been a virtual recluse in the town of Tantanoola since a terrible accident twenty years earlier and Henrietta does not want Eliza to meet up with her aunt and find out the terrible family secret. With her father's backing, Eliza sets off. Unable to find anywhere to stay, she ends up at the Hanging Rocks Inn, where Matilda lives. The two women form a bond, but when a man hired to hunt the tiger comes to stay, he and Eliza clash over the tiger's future. A rival reporter makes life very hard for Eliza and an aboriginal [sic] artist she befriends. In the end, Eliza must not only save the tiger from the hunter, a man she falls in love with, but also save Noah from the town's prejudice.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Amelia Divine is spoilt, rich and has recently lost her family in a tragic accident. She’s travelling on a steamer to her guardians on Kangaroo Island when the ship strikes a hidden reef in a storm. She forces her companion Lucy to give up her place is a life raft for her, and finds herself one of only two survivors to be rescued by a lighthouse keeper from rocks. The other survivor is Sarah Jones, a parolee who is to serve out her term of imprisonment working for a widowed farmer with seven children on the island. When Amelia bumps her head and loses her memory, Sarah steals her identity, and thinks that is the last she’ll see of the haughty Miss Divine. But the two women’s lives are destined to be entwined in a tale of love, greed and deception.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A tale of self-discovery against the odds, River of Fortune will take you on a journey of shattering deception and heart-warming redemption.

'The twisting and mysterious saga of a young woman in Australia in 1883: Francesca Callaghan returns to the river port of Echuca to help her father, Joe, who runs a paddle steamer. His arrogant competitor, Silas Hepburn, tries to drive him out of business, and it's starting to look like he may succeed. But when Silas sets his eyes upon young Francesca, his devious antics sink to a new low. Francesca, now a pawn in the family business, cannot deny her own romantic feelings. She falls hard for Monty, a charming river captain. But between ill intrigue and impossible odds, can they ever be together? Perhaps the most shattering secret of all is the one that Francesca's father has kept from her for all these years ... '

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Estella Lawson's shallow husband wants a divorce to marry her rich cousin. She escapes to the most isolated outback town in Australia to take over her late father's veterinary practice. Keeping her identity and pregnancy a secret, she tries to prove herself to the mistrustful locals, who have secrets of their own. Two men vie for her heart, but her troubles worsen when her husband comes to claim the baby so that her barren cousin can inherit a fortune.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Jordan Hale returns to Eden, the decaying cane farm he left after his parents died. He plans to restore the property to its former glory, and destroy his parent's enemy, the powerful Max Courtland. He finds support in a bunch of courageous men and falls in love with the mysterious, independent Eve. The truth about Eve is shocking and Max's wife divulges a secret that puts all their lives in danger.'

Source: Author's blurb.

'Tara Killain is assaulted on the family estate in Ireland and runs off with gypsies. Through a twist of fate she finds out an aunt in outback Australia needs her help. When her ship sinks off the coast she becomes responsible for two orphans. They reach Tambora to find the property is almost bankrupt. With the help of the enigmatic local camel driving hero, Tara does all in her power to save the cattle farm.' (Publication summary)