Amid the rising flood waters and shearers' strike violence, can one brave woman reclaim her future? From an Australian bestselling author comes a riveting historical adventure about one woman's journey from a life of isolation to one of love and acceptance. 1894, Echuca, Victoria
Tess Hawthorn is a woman on the run from her abusive husband. All she has to do is get on the riverboat Victor and she will be free.
But with tensions at an all-time high between unionist shearers and Scabs, Tess isn't the only person trying to board a boat under the cover of night. When a brawl erupts between the union and non-union men, Tess is mistaken for a fellow Scab and in the chaos pulled aboard the PS Rodney - the same boat heading up the Darling River that her husband was bound for.
The last person Bram Kempster expects to see on board is Tess Hawthorn, the girl he's loved from afar since they were young. But he can't afford to get distracted, not when he's on an urgent trip to Renmark. Tess didn't want him back then and, if her haughty behaviour is anything to go by, she certainly doesn't want him now.
But childhood hurts are the least of their problems. The continent is a tinderbox of violence and bloodshed waiting to ignite, and at home the Murray River is rising fast. Can they overcome their past in time to work together and survive?
About the Author
Darry Fraser fell in love with the great Murray River when her family moved to her childhood town of Swan Hill in Victoria. Stories of the river have been with her ever since and it's where a number of her novels are set. Her stories are of ordinary people in nineteenth century Australia who are drawn into difficult circumstances - adventure, mystery and mayhem, love and life, and against the backdrop of historical events. Darry lives on the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, very close to the mighty Murray River.