AustLit

'Far from home and family, and with the threat of war looming. How can the promise of happiness ever be fulfilled?

'In 1930s New Zealand, stability and contentment are hard won, especially for a young wife and mother. When Alice Simpson agrees to move to a sheep farm on a windswept peninsula with her husband and children, the lack of a house, electricity, and a decent road weren’t quite what she expected.

'As she struggles to adapt to the hardships and isolation, Alice relies on the exchange of letters with her sister to raise her spirits. While the beauty of her surroundings seeps into her soul, she encounters an intriguing assortment of animals and characters who bring colour to her days.

'But just as a sense of contentment creeps into her life, calamity strikes and long kept secrets begin to unravel ...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A comfy suburban home, a life filled with love and a large, happy family. Not such a big ask—is it?

'Dawn Burton is happy with her high heeled shoes, movie nights, and a social, city hairdressing career. She even tolerates her overbearing mother. But all that fades into oblivion when a handsome farmer sweeps her off her feet.

'With stars in her eyes and dreams of new beginnings she leaves the bustling streets of Auckland behind for her new country life. Except that driving a truck, tending injured wildlife, and rising at cock’s crow to feed demanding, four legged creatures, were complications she hadn’t anticipated.

'While she struggles with loneliness, a minefield of complex personalities and a tragic loss, relief comes from an unexpected source – the developing bond with her mother-in-law, Alice. Dawn quickly realizes that all choices have consequences.

'As she rises to the challenges, her love for her husband and country life deepen. But when a series of crises befall the family and a long held secret is exposed, Dawn finds her world once more shifting under her gumbooted feet …

'Who would have thought a field of lupins could provide the key to happiness?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.