AustLit

'Francine, and her brother Tony, about to be 5, see their uncle shoot and kill an unknown woman but Fran, unsure if Uncle Hilton has seen them, decides to guard Tony against disclosures, keeps her secret from her widow mother, and is almost destroyed by tormenting fears. Her mother's desperate efforts to get a successful crop from the orchard, the advent of a new neighbor, Hugh Ryland, whom Fran trusts, the easing of her watchfulness when Uncle Hilton displays no wariness, and the final crisis ten months later when Tony shatters her little complacency by a chance remark to their uncle, bring about a dangerous climax. It is Ryland and the detective Collings who are responsible for the children's safety, for Hilton's apprehension – and for the complete dissipation of Fran's nightmares. The orchard country bush life of Australia, the impact on young Fran of watchful waiting, and the incidents that make up the ten months period combine to make this more than a routine suspense novel and give it a special interest.'

Source: Kirkus Reviews.

'"Love comes swiftly, at first meeting. There is an attraction that grows undeniably stronger until it is a fire inside. You do not believe in love like that?"

'Morgana Carol never had been in love like that, and, hearing Felipe's words, she knew that now she never could be, that even if such a love did come her way, she must somehow find the strength to withstand it. A lovely tropical island provides the background to this poignant story of a nurse who, knowing that the future could not give her the same things as it did to others, found herself in the very situation she wished to avoid.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.