AustLit

'Mara, a young Australian, falls deeply in love with John, a big-game hunter who lives on the spectacular grasslands of East Africa. He promises everything Mara is looking for, and she joins him there, full of hopes and dreams. But three short years later, their safari lodge is in trouble - and so, too, is their marriage.

'When a Hollywood movie crew descends to film on location, Mara knows this could be the lodge's salvation. The success of the shoot depends on her, and she thrives on her sudden responsibility and independence. But she also finds herself dangerously attracted to the film's leading man.

'A poignant love story set against the breathtaking backdrop of Tanzania, The Hunter's Wife explores a young woman's heartfelt struggle to reconcile duty and desire. Amid the gritty reality of the hunter's world and the make-believe realm of the film-maker, Mara finds that passion must be measured against courage, and that fate will reward the brave.'

'1867. Named by the wife of the paddle steamer captain who finds her half drowned in the Murray River, Alice must survive in a world that reviles her. Because Alice has a gift...or a curse. She can see an aura of colours around the people she meets — and those colours tell her of impending doom. With her friend Rosey, Alice runs away to the gold fields and then joins a troupe of entertainers where people pay to hear her predictions. But she can never escape her past...along with the frightening man in the dark coat who follows her wherever she goes... Present: Annie Reuben is an art restorer in her father’s business, but times are tough. After being given a long-lost painting found in the basement of a condemned hotel, Annie becomes intrigued by the two girls who stare out at her from the ruined canvas. Who were Alice and Rosey? And why does Annie find their lives so important? As Annie becomes caught up with finding answers from the past, she finds herself being stalked by the same frightening man in the dark coat who follows her wherever she goes..." (Publisher's blurb)

'The second rivetting installment in The Smuggler's Wife series by one of our leading historical novelists.

She was Maori, aged anywhere between three and five years old. Her dirty, matted hair hung past her shoulders, and sweet, heart-shaped little face was filthy.

'When Kitty Farrell is offered a trinket by a street urchin, her implulsive response will change both of their lives forever. It is 1845, and after four years on the high seas with Rian, her wild Irish husband, she returns to the lawless Bay of Islands and a country at war.

'Kitty and Rian must battle to be reunited as they fight for their lives and watch friends and enemies alike succumb to the madness of war and the fatal seduction of hatred. (Publication summary)

'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.)

'A mysterious stranger known as "The Wolf" leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child's identity...

'Rosa's only family is the nuns who have raised her. When she turns fifteen, she must leave them and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa - blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents - is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions.

'And all the while, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, and none of her citizens is safe. Rosa faces unimaginable hardship: her only weapons her intelligence, intuition and determination ... and her extraordinary capacity for love.' (From the publisher's website.)

'On midsummer’s eve in 1835, Rachel makes a wish about a man she meets by the river – a stranger who is kind to her. She wishes simply that she will see him again. Her wish comes true, and Will Trigg becomes a part of her life in a way she could have never expected.' (Publication summary)

'Part one of the bestselling saga of love and adventure on the high seas in the Pacific of the 1800s, by one of our leading historical novelists.

'When 18-year-old Kitty Carlisle's father dies in 1838, her suddenly impoverished mother hopes her beautiful daughter might at least find a good husband. But then Kitty is compromised by an unscrupulous adventurer, and she is banished in disgrace to the colonies.

'In the infamous whaling port of Kororareka - known as the Hell-Hole of the Pacific - Kitty falls in love with Rian Farrell, a mysterious sea captain with secrets of his own. Shocking events force her to flee the Bay of Islands for Sydney, but her independent heart leads her into a web of illicit sexual liaison, betrayal and death.

'Part one of the bestselling saga of love and adventure on the high seas in the Pacific of the 1800s, by one of our leading historical novelists.' (Publication summary)

'Whilst his sister, Maerad, pursues her dangerous destiny in the frozen North, Hem is sent south to Turbansk for his own safety. But soon the forces of the Dark overrun the great city and Hem flees with his mentor, Saliman, his white crow, Irc, and a young orphan girl, Zelika, to join the resistance. He agrees to help fight the Nameless One by spying on the child armies of the Dark. Now Hem has a vision – he too has a part to play in Maerad's quest for the Treesong. But Zelika has been captured by the child army, and Hem's destiny must wait. Hem pursues Zelika to the Dark's stronghold, little realizing that her cause is lost. He reunites with Saliman and, broken-hearted, starts the perilous search for his sister.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Three generations of women search for love and acceptance

'Daughter of Italian immigrant Eve, and mother of beautiful Jasmine and headstrong Ella, Nina’s life has always been bound to those of other women.

'For the girl who longed for freedom and art, her dreams seem distant when she finds herself raising her daughters with only her mother’s support. Out of Place charts Nina’s course through life, from her girlhood, when her mother’s European ways are a puzzle and an embarrassment, through her troubled marriage to a man who is always looking elsewhere for happiness, to her struggles as a mother.

'But just when these three generations of feisty women seem to be pulling together and looking to a happier further, where their lives and loves can be balanced by distance and independence, a tragic accident tears them apart.

'Set against the beaches of Perth and the searing heat and harsh beauty of Central Australia, Jo Dutton delicately illustrates the frustrations, problems, joy and love that each of these generations gives and takes from each other as Nina learns, through heartbreaking lessons, that come what may, her life will always be touched by these three amazing women.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2013 ed.).

'Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She is unaware that she possesses a powerful gift, a gift that marks her as a member of the School of Pellinor. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true heritage and extraordinary destiny unfolds. Now she and her teacher, Cadvan, must survive a punishing and uncertain journey through a time and place where the dark forces they battle with stem from the deepest recesses of other-worldly terror.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Soldier of fortune Michael Duffy returns to colonial Sydney on a covert mission and with old scores to settle, still enraged by a bitter feud between his family and the ruthless Macintoshes.

'The Palmer River gold rush lures American prospector Luke Tracy back to Australia's rugged north country in his elusive search for riches and the great passion of his life, Kate O'Keefe.

'From the boardrooms and backstreets of Sydney to the hazardous waters of the Coral Sea, the sequel to Cry of Curlew confirms the exceptional talent of master storyteller Peter Watt..'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2013 ed.).