A Remarkable Woman

Frenchwoman Avril Montdidier is on a mission: to emigrate to Australia and start her own fashion business, leaving the tragedies of the Second World War behind her. She has family in Melbourne and an apprenticeship at Dior in Paris under her tailored belt, so the future seems bright.

Avril settles into 1950s Melbourne and makes friends and contacts for her business-to-be. But just as she's ready to begin, an event in her personal life forces her to make the difficult decision to flee to a cattle station in southern Queensland to work as a nanny.

It is here Avril meets Tim: the eldest son of her benefactor and heir to Monaghan Station. Their mutual attraction is immediate, but Tim is already bound to another.

Avril must grapple with her twin desires - her love for Tim and the impossibility of their situation, and her yearning to stand on her own two feet and gain independence.

It will take a remarkable woman to find her way to happiness.

About the Author

Jules Van Mil has lived the fashion life. In her late teens, she modelled for the McGann Agency, doing fashion parades for David Jones, fashion catalogues for Myer and making television commercials. However, she was always happier designing clothes rather than modelling them.

She completed a teaching degree and started her career as a primary teacher. Then she studied fashion, worked as the Assistant Designer for a women's wear label in Sydney during the 1980s, and taught fashion at a tertiary level.

She loves the fashion industry and established, ran and eventually sold her own bridal couture business. Today, she runs fashion workshops and does casual teaching in Sydney.