Cirrus@Austlit

'For Ellen Whitfield, the betrothal of her dear friend Harriet to Ellen’s brother has brought both loss and solace. But when Harriet suddenly breaks off the engagement, ostensibly at the insistence of her deceased mother, Ellen is bewildered. And when she learns that Harriet is involved with a spiritualist group led by the charismatic Caroline McLeod, she fears losing her friend altogether.

'So it is that practical, sceptical Ellen moves into the gloomy East Melbourne mansion where Caroline, along with her enigmatic daughter Grace, has assembled a motley court of the bereaved. Ellen’s intention is to expose the simple trickery—the hidden cabinets and rigged seances, the levers and wires—that must surely lie behind these visits from the departed.

'What she discovers is altogether more complicated.

'Tara Calaby weaves a compelling and richly detailed narrative around the romance of old Melbourne in this intriguing, possibly supernatural, historical mystery.'  (Publication summary)

'An irresistible sapphic historical romance from a dazzling new Australian talent.

'Charlotte has always known she is different. Where other young women see their destiny in marriage and motherhood, the reclusive Charlotte wants only to work with her father in his stationery business; perhaps even run it herself one day. Then Flora Dalton bursts through the shop door and into Charlotte's life-and a new world of baffling desires and possibilities seems to open up to her.

'But Melbourne society of the 1890s is not built to embrace unorthodoxy. When tragedy strikes and Charlotte is unmoored by grief, she finds herself admitted to Kew Lunatic Asylum 'for her own safety'.

'There she learns that women enter the big white house on the hill for many reasons, not all of them to do with lunacy. That her capacity for love, loyalty and friendship is greater than she had ever understood. And that it will take all of these things-along with an unexpected talent for guile-to extract herself from the care of men and make her way back to her heart's desires.

'A compulsively readable historical romance, House of Longing combines an effortless instinct for narrative with impeccable research, lightly worn. House of Longing is the debut of a major talent.' (Publication summary)

'Bridget O'Reilly helps her husband make toys for children. They are successful at it but he starts making toys no one wants. Then, he leaves to search for gold and doesn't return. But Bridget uses her creative skills for something truly extraordinary.'

Source: SFRevu (http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=18930).

'After an encounter with a creepy clown at the circus, Mikey starts behaving more and more strangely. Can Steve find a way to drive out the increasingly malevolent spirit trying to take over his son’s body before Mikey is lost forever?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'What's a kingdom to do when the king's only heir is born with the head of a cow?'

Source: Back-cover blurb.

'A school girl is ostracised by her peers for possessing the devil's sight.'

Source: Curious Fictions (https://curiousfictions.com/stories/2801-tara-calaby-born-to-it.