Cirrus@Austlit

'Retired couple, Meg and Clyde Pilley, invite Clyde’s recently widowed brother, Mick, on an ocean cruise. It would be relaxing… But things start to go wrong. First of all, Mick becomes involved with Josie. Meg recognises her as a con artist who, along with her “brother”, is planning to rip them off financially. But Mick thinks he’s in love again. Clyde comes across Jim Morrison who says he’s a journalist. His behaviour doesn’t jell, and Clyde wonders if he can be trusted. Something more horrendous happens… Meg meets two young women who are in deep trouble, and Meg and Clyde try to help them. The Pilleys think they have encountered the worst of their problems when psychic Meg senses their cabin has been broken into – not once, but twice. Why are they being watched? Are Meg and Clyde’s lives in danger? Can they depend on the ship security? More importantly – who is Jim Morrison?' (Publication summary)

'Around 1900- Italy; A young postulant nun Josephine is assaulted, and after leaving the convent she gives birth to twin daughters with an unusual connection. When Josephine dies of mental stress, the twins continue to live with an old couple, then are separated. Malia begins life in a circus, and Alexie goes to a strict religious couple in the mountains. Only the girls know of their special ability. This unique bond affects them and their lives through pain, drama and disaster. Fate and a pendant bring them love and more astonishing surprises.' (Publication summary)

'In Brisbane, single parent Kate Anderson, 34, drops her two youngsters at school before a routine visit to Lisa, an emergency housing client. A Queenslander, social worker Kate has rebuilt her life after divorce and enjoys her work supporting disadvantaged people. After being first to witness the gory scene following the brutal murder of Lisa and her children, Kate turns to her close-knit family for support. She meets Jack, her brother's solicitor friend and gratefully accepts his help, as the horrors multiply to engulf her. Suddenly and inexplicably, as she tries to piece the mystery together, Kate becomes the target of a prowler and telephone threats. Determined to find out why this is happening and feeling that the police are missing something, she ignores all warnings of risk to herself. Jack's assistance becomes increasingly important and although romantic entanglements are out of the question, Kate finds herself strongly attracted to him. Events escalate with another killing and when Kate's own precious children are kidnapped the stakes reach a new level. With the help of the police the children are rescued. Then when Prue, a work colleague disappears, Kate becomes bait to catch the killer.' (Publication summary)

'Isobel Richardson is torn. With an elderly dependent mother on one side of the world and her husband and children in Australia, her priorities are drifting further and further away from one another. She tries to stretch around the globe with a hand on each household. If only she could be in two places at once; be everything to everyone. Perhaps then her family wouldn't be falling apart. ' (Publication summary)

'Isobel Richardson can cope with most things; her husband's redundancy, a shortage of money, three spirited kids and a demanding old house on the West Wales coast. She sees the loss of Leo's job as a chance for new beginnings and her drive and determination propel the family towards a sparkling new life in Australia. However, Isobel's mother Helen is devastated. Cold and unsupportive, she refuses to join in the family adventure and throws the guilt card firmly down on the table. Isobel is horribly torn between duty and dreams, but Australia's promise of opportunity finally proves irresistible. When the family lands in Oz though, her unbearable guilt at leaving a broken Helen behind is compounded by the pain of missing absent son Ben - and all the while Mother Nature is hatching some plans of her own. Isobel is reduced to a tearful mess pushing Leo away, snapping at the children, overwhelmed, scared and irrational. Worn down and confused, she inches closer and closer to running back to her mother and the life she knew in Wales. Has the great Australian dream really eluded her after all?' (Publication summary)

'Tom Petrie arrives with his family at the notorious Moreton Bay Penal Colony (Brisbane, Australia) in 1837, aged six. From the first day, he encounters a vicious convict, who, over the years, becomes his mortal enemy bent on revenge. As Tom grows up in the harsh environment of the fledgling penal colony, he makes friends with the local Aboriginal people, the Turrbal, who teach him their language and their customs. He is initiated by the Turrbal as a "turrwan" (great man) and discovers forbidden love with the daughter of a tribal leader who opposes the whites. Tom is torn by the conflict between whites and blacks on the violent frontier and has enemies in both camps. When his world is shattered by tragedy, he sinks into the abyss in the New South Wales gold fields. Tom returns to Brisbane to rebuild his life, but his old tormentor has other plans. This is a tale of coming of age, adventure, love and payback based on the real-life figure of Tom Petrie and set against the historical background of colonial Australia.' (Publication summary)