Cirrus@Austlit

'A beautifully told and thought-provoking novel about a mix-up that leaves two children wondering who they really are and where they belong . . .

'What would you do if you found out you'd been raising another couple's child - and they've been raising yours?

'Fourteen years ago, Kelsey and Raf Maccioni left hospital with their newborn daughter, Ammy. Days later, Shona and Nathan James welcomed the birth of their son, Zac.

'The only thing the two couples have in common is the IVF clinic where their dreams came true. They are strangers to each other – for now.

'Fast forward to April 2024 . . . Ammy has grown into a rebellious young woman, and Zac is a kind but introverted teenager.

'Life may not be perfect for either family, but like everyone else they are muddling through.

'Until Ammy takes a DNA test for a school project. At first the results are puzzling. Then disturbing. Then earth-shattering - when the IVF clinic admits a terrible mistake.'  (Publication summary)

'Following the death of their beloved brother, four sisters find a way to mend their own broken relationships by tracing the recipients of his organ donations. Allison - a workaholic obstetrician who barely gets time to see her husband and twin sons. As the eldest, she has always felt the burden of looking after the family - first her parents, then her siblings. But now she's not sure she can carry on being the responsible one. Something's got to give.

'Bridie - following the cult success of her film, Black Box, ten years ago, Bridie's career has stalled, while her husband's acting career is taking off. Bridie is struggling to find the right project to make her comeback - and suddenly realises she could make a film about meeting the transplant recipients...

'Clare - a hospital nurse, is devastated when her wife Sophie leaves her. After five rounds of IVF and four miscarriages, Sophie cannot deal any longer with Clare's obsession to be a mother. But Clare still has one more embryo in storage - can she/should she still go ahead?

'Emma - the baby of the family, Emma had always felt overlooked. It was true then and it's still true now. Bullied at school, and reeling from their parents' deaths when she was a teenager, she sought solace in religion. But unable to find a partner who truly shares her beliefs, her life is becoming lonelier and lonelier.'  (Publication summary)

'Charlie Johnson is thirteen and in her first year of high school. She loves her family, netball and Liam, the cute guy who sits next to her in Science—but most of all she loves horses and horse-riding. Charlie's parents have leased her a horse, Tic Tac, from the local pony club, but one day they go out for a ride in the national park and only Tic Tac returns . . .

'Four months later, long after the police and the SES have called off the search, Charlie is found wandering injured and filthy, miles from where she was last seen. Her family rejoice in her return, but can anyone truly recover from what Charlie's been through? When a life has been shattered, how do you put the pieces back together?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Four mothers. Four teenage daughters.

'An isolated tropical paradise with no internet or mobile phone reception.

'What could possibly go wrong?

'There's tension, bitchiness, bullying, sex, drunken confessions, bad behaviour and breakdowns - and wait till you see what the teenagers get up to...

'How can we let our daughters go to forge lives of their own when what we most want to do is hold them close and never let them go? How do we let them grow and keep them protected from the dark things in the world at the same time? And how can mothers and daughters navigate the troubled, stormy waters of adolescence without hurting themselves and each other? A clear-eyed, insightful and wildly entertaining look into the complicated, emotional world of mothers and daughters by the acclaimed author of Into My Arms, Last Summer and After the Fall.' (Publication summary)