The Fortune Maker

In a world captivated by the temptation of fortune telling, twelve-year-old orphan Maud Mulligan finds herself caught up in a web where strangers are making plans for a future they believe she can foretell.

Which is more dangerous - a future you can't see - or one that you can?

Twelve-year-old Maud Mulligan knows there's no future for her in London, in the rat-infested slum where she grew up. But in the tunnel under the river are fortune tellers, Seers, who will tell your future for a few pennies. And then there is Mr Mandalay, Seer to the king and anyone else rich enough to afford him.

When Mr Mandalay sees Maud in a foretelling for a wealthy factory heiress, she believes Maud can save her family from financial ruin. But how? And why? What could a girl like Maud do to change anyone's future - or even her own?

With more twists and turns than any fortune-teller's tales, this is a story that will keep you reading to the very last page.

About the Author

Catherine Norton's first novel, Crossing, was joint winner of the Patricia Wrightson Prize in the 2015 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. It was also a CBCA Notable Book. She was born in the UK but grew up mostly in Adelaide, where she lives with her husband, children and a very lazy whippet called Archer. She has had dozens of jobs, including travel agent, cleaner, packer of tulip bulbs and novelty stationery, publishing assistant and academic, but she has only ever been fired from two of them. Writing novels is by far her favourite.