AustLit

'In the cold winter of Strasbourg, a medieval town in the North-East of France, 11-year-old Clotilde is living a quiet existence with her frail father, a Catholic priest. In the loneliness of her existence, she daydreams of literature and hot summers in Provence. When Clotilde's father dies, she self-destructs with wine, cigarettes and shaving blades. Her last chance for a normal life is to migrate to Australia and live with her mother who abandoned her at birth. She is forced into a strange land where nobody understands her and where her precocious attitude leads her to the shocking truth about her existence.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.