Cirrus@Austlit

'In 1978 the Northern Territory has begun to self-govern. Cyclone Tracy is a recent memory and telephones not yet a fixture on the cattle stations dominating the rugged outback. Life is hard and people are isolated. But they find ways to connect.

'Sybil is the matriarch of Fairvale Station, run by her husband, Joe. Their eldest son, Lachlan, was Joe's designated successor but he has left the Territory - for good. It is up to their second son, Ben, to take his brother's place. But that doesn't stop Sybil grieving the absence of her child.

'With her oldest friend, Rita, now living in Alice Springs and working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Ben's English wife, Kate, finding it difficult to adjust to life at Fairvale, Sybil comes up with a way to give them all companionship and purpose: they all love to read, and she forms a book club.

'Mother-of-three Sallyanne is invited to join them. Sallyanne dreams of a life far removed from the dusty town of Katherine where she lives with her difficult husband, Mick.

'Completing the group is Della, who left Texas for Australia looking for adventure and work on the land.

'If you loved THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP OF KABUL and THE THORN BIRDS you will devour this story of five different women united by one need: to overcome the vast distances of Australia's Top End with friendship, tears, laughter, books and love.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She fought back. She won. Now the nightmare begins ...

'When Livia Prescott fights off a terrifying assault in a deserted car park, the media hail her bravery. And after a difficult year - watching her father fade away, her business struggle and her marriage fall apart - it feels good to strike back for once.

'But as the police widen their search for her attacker, menacing notes start arriving. And brave is not what she feels any longer ...

'Someone has decided to rip her life apart, then kick her when she's down. But is it a stranger or someone much closer to home? In fact, is there anyone she can now trust?

'When her family and friends are drawn into the stalker's focus - with horrifying consequences - the choice becomes simple. Fight back, or lose the people she loves the most ...' (Publisher's blurb)

'I'm a lucky woman, thinks Susanna Greenfield. And why wouldn't she? Her handsome, successful husband is a loving father to their two teenage children. Her mother is her dearest friend, and her scatty but adored younger sister seems to have finally found some stability in her life. Susanna has a solid career as an art teacher, and if, as she's recently discovered, there's a hole inside her where her creative spirit used to be - is that really such a big price to pay?

'But beneath the carefully maintained surface, seismic forces are at work. Fault lines are forming, not only in Susanna, but within each beloved member of her family. In a single, tragically ill-judged moment, the fabric it has taken a lifetime to construct can be torn apart.

'Human frailties, and the power of the ties that bind us: this is Kate Veitch's territory, explored with characteristic warmth and honesty in her absorbing portrait of a family thrown into crisis.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Ruby and her new husband James brave a long and treacherous journey to start their new life in Australia. Meanwhile, there are other new arrivals to Australian shores: a Tahitian with a mysterious past, a naive young schoolmistress, and an English aristocrat, all unaware that their destinies are irrevocably intertwined.' (Publication summary)

'English artist Storm Cizekova grew up believing that her mother died when she was born. But then Storm finds a photo of herself in the heart of the Australian desert - and in her mother's arms.

'Haunted by unanswered questions, Storm embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she holds dear: her family history, her art, even her relationship with her partner Max. Who is she really, and where does she belong? Her search will take her from the snow covered Malvern Hills in England to the rich red heart of the Australian outback.

'Retracing her mother's footsteps through the stark beauty of the desert landscape, Storm hopes to find the courage to confront some shocking truths from her past and the strength to face her future.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Set in England between the wars, this novel tells the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.

'Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they - and Grace - know the truth.

'In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever.

'The novel is full of secrets - some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.' (Publisher's blurb)