AustLit

'1874: Only days before she is to leave the foundling home where she grew up, Agnes Resolute discovers that, as a baby, she had been abandoned with a small token of her mother: a unicorn button.

'Agnes always believed her mother had been too poor to keep her, but after working as a laundress in the home she recognises the button as belonging to Genevieve Breckby, the beautiful and headstrong daughter of a local noble family. Agnes had seen Genevieve once, in the local village, and had never forgotten her.

'Despite having no money, Agnes will risk everything in a quest that will take her from the bleak moors of northern England to the harsh streets of London, then on to Paris and Ceylon. As Agnes follows her mother's trail, she makes choices that could cost her dearly. Finally, in Australia, she tracks Genevieve down. But is Genevieve capable of being the mother Agnes hopes she will be?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction - the captivating new novel from Kimberley Freeman.

'1926: Violet Armstrong is one of the few remaining members of staff working at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel as it closes down over winter. Only a handful of guests are left, including the heir to a rich grazing family, his sister and her suave suitor. When a snowstorm moves in, the hotel is cut off and they are all trapped. No one could have predicted what would unfold. When the storm clears they must all keep the devastating secrets hidden.

'2014: After years of putting her sick brother's needs before her own, Lauren Beck leaves her home and takes a job at a Blue Mountains cafe, the first stage of the Evergreen Spa Hotel's renovations. There she meets Tomas, the Danish architect who is overseeing the project, and an attraction begins to grow. In a wing of the old hotel, Lauren finds a series of passionate love letters dated back to 1926, alluding to an affair - and a shocking secret.

'If she can unravel this long-ago mystery, will it make Lauren brave enough to take a risk and change everything in her own life?

'Inspired by elements of her grandmother's life, a rich and satisfying tale of intrigue, heartbreak and love from the author of the bestselling Lighthouse Bay and Wildflower Hill.' (Publication summary)

'It's 1925 and change is everywhere, even in rural Australia - but is Flora ready? Includes bonus material from Kimberley Freeman's captivating new Jazz age novel, Evergreen Falls.

'Flora Honeychurch-Black awakens on the day of her engagement party excited yet somehow unsettled. Throughout the day, despite the well-meaning attention of her friend Liberty and the distraction of the household's many preparations for the night's celebration, Flora's unease grows. Her much-loved, erratic brother Sam unwittingly adds to the tension, behaving oddly and drawing mirth from her suave fiance Tony and derision from some of his sophisticated coterie of friends. As the storm clouds gather outside and the engagement party begins, Flora realises that something is amiss. Where is Sam? What secret is he hiding? The answers may be more than Flora - and her new relationships and loyalties - can bear.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'From nineteenth-century England to present-day Australia - a riveting story of secrets and scandal.

'1891: Orphaned as a small child, Tilly Kirkland found a loving, safe home with her grandfather in Dorset. But nineteenth-century England is an unforgiving place for a young woman with limited means and as her grandfather's health fails, it seems perfect timing that she meets Jasper Dellafore. Yet her new husband is not all he seems. Alone in the Channel Islands, Tilly finds her dream of a loving marriage is turning into a nightmare.

'2012: Bestselling novelist Nina Jones is struggling with writer's block and her disappointing personal life. Nothing is quite working. After a storm damages Starwater, her house on Ember Island, she decides to stay for a while and oversee the repairs: it s a perfect excuse to leave her problems behind her on the mainland. Then Nina discovers diary pages hidden in the walls of the old home. And a mystery unravels that she is determined to solve.

'Though the two women are separated by years, Starwater House will alter the course of both their lives. Nina will find that secrets never stay buried and Tilly learns that what matters most is trusting your heart. '

'In 1920s Glasgow, Beattie Blaxland falls pregnant to her married lover Henry just before her nineteenth birthday. Abandoned by her family, Beattie and Henry set sail for a new life in Australia. But life is not about to follow the plan that Beattie had hoped for and fate will play her a cruel hand...

'In 2009, London, prima ballerina Lydia Blaxland-Hunter is also discovering that life can also have its ups and downs. Unable to dance again after a fall, Lydia returns home to Australia to recuperate. But on arrival she is presented with some surprising news - her recently deceased and much-loved grandmother Beattie Blaxland has left her Tasmanian property to Lydia.

'Told through the eyes of a young Beattie Blaxland and a contemporary Lydia Blaxland-Hunter, this is an emotionally charged, seductive tale of self-discovery, secrets and surprises.' (From the publisher's website.)

'In Cold War Leningrad, Sofi and her cousins Natalya and Lena hope for a different life for themselves. Their dreams of the West - of fame and wealth and beautiful things - sustain them through creeping poverty, the long shivering winters, and the loss of their fathers. When the fall of the Soviet Union brings them new opportunities, the three girls decide they'll stop at nothing to make their dreams come true.

'Each woman grasps at a new life in Europe and, for a while, it seems fortune has smiled on them. But gradually things unravel as reality fails to live up to their teenage dreams.

'Sofi's life in a small village in rural France is idyllic, but her husband is remote and cool. Nataliya shines on the red carpets and at the fashion shows of London, but her success is precariously reliant on another's whims. Lena has two beautiful children and a loving husband, but in her mind her sister casts too long a shadow directly and she becomes obsessed with the past.

'Dissatisfactions prompt jealousies, rivalries and betrayals. As their relationships splinter, none of them is aware of a dark figure from their Russian years, and the bad luck that still lies in wait for them...'

Source: Author's website, http://www.kimwilkins.com/
Sighted: 24/09/2008