Cirrus@Austlit

'With her dreams of dominating Melbourne's fashion scene in tatters, Nella Martini has returned to the last place she wants to be – Torrente Blu, the market garden inherited from her late nonna. She just needs to clean up the property, sell it quickly, and avoid run–ins with her neighbour: surly Adrian Tomaso.

'But when Nella comes across her nonna's cookbook things start to change. The place, with its endless tomato plants and gallons of olive oil in storage, gets under her skin, as does Adrian with his passion for this life. But her dreams have always meant being anywhere but here – haven't they? Or has the right place been here all this time?

'For Esta Feliciano in the 1950s, the right place was her Italian village. But in search of a better life than war–torn Italy has to offer, her husband has moved Esta and their daughter to this alien country, settling on a small, flat piece of land that he calls Torrente Blu. Can Esta come to grips with the harsh Australian sun and strange culture?

'Woven with traditional Italian recipes, The Right Place is the heartfelt story of two women's journeys, as they discover how the right place to call home can be where you make it...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Have you ever had a secret?

'In a small suburb of Gawler, South Australia, the tang of cut grass and eucalyptus seem to mingle perpetually on the warm air.

'The neat houses perched under the big gum on Church Street have seen many things over the long years. Years of sprinklers stuttering over clipped lawns, children playing behind low brick walls. The milkie, coming and going, leaving out bottles, or blocks of butter and cheese. A seemingly endless stream of youthful paperboys. Couples tending their veggies and chasing chooks. Family barbecues. Gossipy neighbours hanging out washing or drinking sundowners on their verandahs. Arguments. Accidents. Births, deaths, marriages. The street has seen it all.

'Until the arrival of Thomas, Elsie and Aida.

'In this, Kim Lock's third novel of what really goes on behind closed doors, she weaves the tale of three ordinary people with big secrets; a story of forty years of betrayal, marriage, loss and laughter. It is a joyous story, a rich tapestry of Australian life as well as a heartwarming depiction of love against the odds.' (Publication summary)