AustLit

'A young Hungarian woman confronts her family's past in an engrossing quest for a stolen painting.

'When Anika Molnar flees her home country of Hungary not long before the break-up of the Soviet Union, she carries only a small suitcase - and a beautiful and much-loved painting, of an auburn-haired woman in a cobalt blue dress, from her family's hidden collection. Arriving in Australia, Anika moves in with her aunt in Sydney, and the painting hangs in pride of place in her bedroom. But one day it is stolen in what seems to be a carefully planned theft, and Anika's carefree life takes a more ominous turn. Sinister secrets from her family's past and Hungary's fraught history cast suspicion over the painting's provenance, and she embarks on a gripping quest to uncover the truth. Hungary's war-torn past contrasts sharply with Australia's bright new world of opportunity in this moving and compelling mystery.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A tale of two very different sisters whose 1890s voyage from London into remote outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and savage dispossession.

'London in 1891: Harriet Cameron is a talented young artist whose mother died when she was barely five. She and her beloved sister Sarah were brought up by their father, radical thinker James Cameron. After adventurer Henry Vincent arrives on the scene, the sisters' lives are changed forever.

'Sarah, the beauty of the family, marries Henry and embarks on a voyage to Australia. Harriet, intensely missing Sarah, must decide whether to help her father with his life's work or to devote herself to painting. When James Cameron dies unexpectedly, Harriet is overwhelmed by grief. Seeking distraction, she follows Sarah to Australia, and afterwards into the outback, where she is alienated by the casual violence and great injustices of outback life.

'Her rejuvenation begins with her friendship with an Aboriginal stockman and her growing love for the landscape. But this fragile happiness is soon threatened by murders at a nearby cattle station and by a menacing station hand who is seeking revenge.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Sally Lachlan has a secret that has haunted her for a decade; is it time now to let it go?

'A chance meeting with the charismatic geneticist, Anthony Blake, reawakens her desire for love and at the same time, her daughter, Charlie, shows signs of wishing to know more about her father. Both the past and the future are places Sally prefers not to think about.

'But if she wants to move towards a new love, she will first have to come to terms with her long-ago marriage. Only then will she be able to be honest with Charlie. And herself.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It is the spring of 1961, and the sleepy little town of Jingera is at its most perfect with its clear blue skies, pounding surf and breath-taking lagoon. Yet all is not so perfect behind closed doors.

'George Cadwallader - butcher by day and star-gazer by night - is loved by everyone, except his wife. He only wants the best for his family - yet it's all falling apart.

'Philip Chapman is a sensitive young boy, a musical prodigy - and a target for bullies. But with his wealthy parents indifferent to his cries for help, his entire future is at risk...

'Then there's Ilona Vincent and her daughter Zidra, former refugees, now fully-fledged 'Jingeroids'. When a voice from the past reaches out to them, they're soon in a race against time to reunite a family that has been cruelly torn apart...' (From the publisher's website.)

'It is 1957 and, after the death of her husband, pianist Ilona Talivaldis and her nine-year-old daughter Zidra travel to the remote coastal town of Jingera in New South Wales. Ilona, a concentration camp survivor from Latvia, is searching for peace and an opportunity to start anew. In her beautiful vine-covered cottage on the edge of the lagoon, she plans to set herself up as a piano teacher.

The weeks pass, and slowly mother and daughter get to know the townsfolk - including kind-hearted butcher George Cadwallader who is forever gazing at the stars; his son Jim, a boy wise beyond his years; Peter Vincent, a former wartime pilot and POW; and Cherry Bates, the publican's wife who is about to make a horrifying discovery...

For Jingera is not quite the utopia Ilona imagines it to be - and at risk is the one thing Ilona holds dear... ' (Publisher's website.)