Cirrus@Austlit

'Two summers, decades apart. Two women whose lives are forever entwined. And a house that holds the secrets that could free them both.

'At twenty-six, Lillian feels ancient and exhausted. Her marriage to Charles Oberon has not turned out the way she thought it would. To her it seems she is just another beautiful object captured within the walls of Cloudesley, her husband's Chilterns manor house. But, with a young step-son and a sister to care for, Lillian accepts there is no way out for her. Then Charles makes an arrangement with an enigmatic artist visiting their home and her world is turned on its head.

'Maggie Oberon ran from the hurt and resentment she caused. Half a world away, in Australia, it was easier to forget, to pretend she didn't care. But when her grandmother, Lillian, falls ill she must head back to Cloudesley. Forced to face her past, she will learn that all she thought was real, all that she held so close, was never as it seemed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Australia, 1933: Arabella Fitzherbert, a 19-year-old English lady travels with her parents to Australia as they hope the dry climate will help their only daughter recover from her chronic illness. With the Depression in full swing, the wealthy Fitzherbert family will stop at nothing to pamper their sickly daughter. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when Arabella falls from the passenger train and finds herself in the desert - all alone. Injured, she watches helplessly as the train pulls away, leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere. Nobody notices her missing until what is presumed to be too late. Arabella's fate might have been sealed if not for a group of Aborigines who herd her to Marree, a small town in the outback, cut off from the rest of the world. While her parents believe her dead, Arabella is on her own for the first time in her life.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (English language edition).