Cirrus@Austlit

'Freya is the middle child and odd-one-out in the close but dislocated Dunbar family in Australia. When Freya meets soul mate Alexander Marcou at High School in 1976 her thwarted efforts to forge an identity amid secrets and gaps in the family history lose their urgency. Fate intervenes and the pair are suddenly oceans apart - Freya helping Gramma in Scotland. They make the best of a lengthening separation by studying to prepare for their travel adventures around nursing, teaching and flying. But destiny hasn't finished with them. Malevolent forces swirl under their radar to part them permanently. Bewildered and betrayed, both grieve deeply in disbelief. Eventually Alexander marries. Scarred by her experience with Alexander, Freya shies clear of commitments. Superficially serene, the questions simmer and identity issues trouble her again. Immersion in work is a forlorn but effective way to suppress dreams of a lost future. In the 1990s while undertaking nursing research, Freya meets Reg Prentiss an Australian IT expert. After their professional friendship transforms to a whirlwind courtship, they marry and head for a new life DownUnder. Determined to set the past aside, Freya commits to this marriage and the children she and Reg plan to have. ' (Publication abstract)

'In 1993 Freya Prentiss returns to Australia after a whirlwind courtship and marriage in Scotland, looking forward to merging motherhood with meaningful work. Elated about reuniting with her own family after a thirteen year absence she is uneasy about meeting Reg’s parents.

Startled by the wealth and lifestyle of her in-laws, qualms emerge around values and compromise.

While Reg is in New York on business, complications set in for Freya – her sister’s IVF baby, her grandmother’s dementia, the road accident that kills her parents and uninvited memories of first love. As Freya cares for Gramma, old family secrets and identity questions plague her again. When the old lady dies Freya reviews her priorities. Aided by good friends she applies to volunteer for humanitarian aid work.

In Africa the injustice of the 1997-1998 man-made famine in the south of Sudan and the desperate plight of the victims breaks Freya’s heart. Just when the tide is turning for the starving and dispossessed, her first love Alexander appears briefly out of the blue. Emotion flares but he is married with a child – taboo.

The emergency medevac of a colleague to Amsterdam takes her to furlough earlier than expected. Headed for the remote north-west of Scotland she vows to tackle her confusion about humanity in general and an out-dated emotional attachment.' (Publisher's blurb)

'After another spell in Australia, Freya enjoys a different aspect of Africa during a holiday visit to Kruger National Park before returning to the insecurities of Sudan. While at Kruger and out of the blue, new information about family secrets comes to light. All members of Freya’s humanitarian aid team worry when they are withdrawn from the clinic at the refugee camp because of violence in the area.' (Publisher's blurb)