Cirrus@Austlit

'Every wonderful word is true!

'In the oldest rainforest on Earth, on the oldest continent, a seed falls to the ground.
Over hundreds of years, the seed will grow into a sapling reaching for the sunlight, to become a tree towering above the rainforest canopy.

'Generations of insects, butterflies, bird, lizards, snakes and an abundance of native wildlife will bear witness to the magnificent Bull Kauri pine...'(Publication summary)

'Petroc Trengrouse has come home from Waterloo missing his right leg. Family friend Lady Beatrice Marlowe has been thrown out of her home on the deaths of her father and brother. When Petroc comes to stay at Beatrice’s mother’s seaside house to recover from his wounds, he has no idea that he’s causing severe financial problems. He feels he’s not fit to marry; she knows she’s too poor to attract an aristocratic suitor. Will the Trengrouse Ball prove both of them wrong?' (Publication summary)

''Generosity is a good thing - but can too much of it keep loving hearts apart?

'Adeline Edmonds is rich, but can't touch that money for the charitable causes she believes in so passionately, and resorts to subterfuge and deception to do her good works. Anthony, Viscount Merryam, is pretending to be the kind of pleasure-loving nobleman her uncle and aunt want her to marry. He is shocked to see Adeline in the mean streets of Soho - and in the decidedly shocking environs of the Soho Club.

'Deception breeds confusion and heartache: can two generous hearts find happiness in the truth?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Shooting for fame could end your career ... and your life. A sparkling mystery from a stylish new voice in crime fiction, in a book that will delight fans of Richard Osman and Kerry Greenwood.

'TV researcher Poppy McGowan has never sought the spotlight and is none too happy to be photographed with rock god Nathan Castle. When the photo pops up on celebrity gossip sites, it sparks a media feeding frenzy, forcing Poppy to go to ground, don a wig, and pull some nifty moves to escape a tailing car. And she cops abuse from Nathan's outraged fans.

'None of this would have happened if Poppy had not found Nathan's mother Daisy, one-time glamour girl and elderly best friend of her Aunty Mary, bleeding and unconscious in her bathroom. The police dismiss the case as an accident, but Poppy is sure there are questions to be answered. Who attacked Daisy, and why? Will she come out of her coma? What secrets are her gathering family hiding? What happens to Daisy's money if she dies?

'When a murder occurs outside Daisy's flat, the police step in at last. Unfortunately, they finger Poppy's boyfriend, Tol, for the crime - after all, he had bad blood with the victim. As Daisy's money-hungry family circle, amid hints of poisoning, bribery and blackmail, Poppy must find a way to clear Tol's name and ensure Daisy's safety.' (Publication summary)

'Little Foxbury, Norfolk, 1818

'Meg is in her mid-20s, grief-stricken and all but on the shelf after the death of her beloved fiance, John. The last thing she expects is an immediate attraction to Nicholas, Lord Ashham, newly arrived in their Norfolk area to take up the title of his departed father - who was indeed a wicked Baron. Artistic Nicholas is cut from a different cloth - can Meg help him escape the stain of the past without damaging her own, spotless reputation, and become a bride at last?'

Source : publisher's blurb

'She'll never love another soldier ... will she?

'Elizabeth MacDonald, made a widow at Waterloo, is determined to keep herself and her son away from anything military. Gavan Sunderland, her husband's captain, is determined to teach her son the bagpipes, so he can be a piper like his father. When two strong-willed people clash at Christmas time, will the result be disaster or lasting happiness?' (Publication summary)

'When your builder finds bones under the floor of your heritage home, what do you do? For TV researcher Poppy McGowan, the first step is to find out if the bones are human (which means calling in the cops and delaying her renovations) or animal (which doesn't).

'Unfortunately, 'help' comes in the form of Dr Julieanne Weaver, archaeologist, political hopeful, and Poppy's old enemy. She declares the bones evidence of a rare breed of fat-tailed sheep, and slaps a heritage order on the site. The resultant archaeological dig introduces Poppy to Tol Lang, the best-looking archaeologist she's ever met - and also Julieanne's boyfriend.

'When Julieanne is found murdered in Poppy's house, both she and the increasingly attractive Tol are considered suspects - and so Poppy uses her media contacts and news savvy to investigate other suspects. Did Julieanne have enemies in the right-wing Australian Family party, for which she was seeking preselection, or in the affiliated Radiant Joy Church? Or at the Museum of New South Wales, among her rivals and ex-boyfriends? And who was her secret lover?

'Can Poppy save herself, and Tol ... and finally get her house back?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'If you devoured THE CROWN you will love this exuberant story of a young Australian actress caught up in the excesses, royal intrigues and class divide of Jazz Age London, losing her way but reclaiming her heart in the process

'London, 1920s: Kit Scott, a privileged young Australian aiming to become a star, arrives in the city to find the Jazz Age in full swing. Cast in a West End play opposite another young hopeful, Canadian Zeke Gardiner, she dances blithely into the heady lifestyle of English high society and the London theatre set, from Noel Coward to Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele.

'When Kit is photographed dancing the Charleston alongside the Prince of Wales, she finds herself at the centre of a major scandal, sending the Palace into damage control and Kit to her aristocratic English relatives - and into the arms of the hedonistic Lord Henry Carleton. Amid the excesses of the Roaring Twenties, both Zeke and Kit are faced with temptations - and make choices that will alter the course of their lives forever.' (Publication summary)

'This Nature Storybook follow-up to the award-winning Desert Lake is a stunningly illustrated and extraordinary story of the yearly weather cycle and attendant changing wildlife of Kakadu National Park, from the Dry to the Wet to the Dry again.

'In the tropical wetlands and escarpments of Kakadu National Park, the seasons move from dry to wet to dry again. Those seasons have shaped the astonishing variety of plants, animals, birds, insects ... migratory birds by the thousands, grasshoppers and owls, lizards and turtles, fruit bats and spear grass. And, gliding past them all in the rivers and waterholes, the long, sinuous shapes of crocodiles ...'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'It's 1911, and 21-year-old Evelyn Northey desperately wants to become a doctor. Her father forbids it, withholding the inheritance that would allow her to attend university. At the outbreak of World War I, Evelyn disobeys her father, enlisting as an army nurse bound for Egypt and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

'Under the blazing desert sun, Evelyn develops feelings for polio survivor Dr William Brent, who believes his disability makes him unfit to marry. For Evelyn, still pursuing her goal of studying medicine, a man has no place in her future. For two such self-reliant people, relying on someone else for happiness may be the hardest challenge of all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A bright and colourful look at twelve incredible Australian women who helped shape our country, from politics and the arts to Indigenous culture, science and more.

'Meet twelve amazing Australian women who have changed the world, in small ways and large.

'Some of them are world famous, like Annette Kellerman and Nellie Melba.

'Some of them are famous in Australia, like Mary Reibey and Edith Cowan.

'All of them deserve to be famous and admired.

'These women are the warriors who paved the way for the artists, business owners, scientists, singers, politicians, actors, sports champions, adventurers, activists and innovators of Australia today.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Inspired by the life of the world's first woman war correspondent, Australia's Louise Mack, the most gorgeous love story yet by Pamela Hart.

1917, Italy. Australian journalist Rebecca Quinn is an unconventional woman. At the height of World War I, she has given up the safety of her Sydney home for the bloody battlefields of Europe, following her journalist husband to the frontline as a war correspondent in Italy.

'Reporting the horrors of the Italian campaign, Rebecca finds herself thrown together with American-born Italian photographer Alessandro Panucci, and soon discovers another battleground every bit as dangerous and unpredictable: the human heart.' (Publication summary)

'The dry salt bed of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre shimmers in the desert heat. But far up north, the rains have come. Water is flooding into empty riverbeds and swirling down towards the lake. Soon everything will change. ' (Publication summary)

'January, 1920. Young Englishwoman Margaret Dalton is full of excitement as she arrives in Sydney to begin a new life in the warm, golden land of Australia. She leaves behind the horrors of WWI and can't wait to see her husband, Frank, after two years of separation.

'But when Margaret's ship docks, Frank isn't there to greet her and Margaret is informed that he already has a wife . . .

'Devastated, Margaret must swap her hopes and dreams for the reality of living and working in a strange new city. A growing friendship with army sergeant Tom McBride gives her a steady person to rely on. But just as Margaret and Tom begin to grow closer, news arrives that Frank may not have abandoned her. Where should Margaret's loyalties lie: with the old life or with the new?' (Publication summary)

'Newlyweds Ruby and Jimmy Hawkins are sure their love will survive the trauma and tragedy of war. Amid the desperate battles raging in Gallipoli, Jimmy dreams of the future they planned together. In Sydney, Ruby reads his romantic letters full of love and longing.

'But as weeks slip into months Ruby must forge her own new life. When she takes a job at a city timber merchant's yard, she is thrown into a man's world fraught with complications. And as the lives of those around her begin to shatter, Ruby must change if she is to truly find her way. Is she still the same woman Jimmy fell in love with?

'Inspired by the true story of the author's own family history, The Soldier's Wife is a heart-soaring story of passion, love and loss and learning how to live when all you hold dear is threatened.' (Publisher's abstract.)

'For Katie, exploring the far reaches of the Solar System in her family spaceship is just ordinary life - but living on Earth, now THAT would be exciting! There seems no way she and her brother, Sam, will ever see Earth, until they accidentally end up on the fastest Ship in space, on its way to the Moon.

'But will they ever get there? Space Station security, smugglers, space pirates - not to mention their parents - all see ready to stop them.

'Katie and Sam aren't going to be pushed around. Neither is their gran...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Mary MacKillop changed the course of Australia's history.

'Mary MacKillop watched Australia grow from a collection of small colonies into a nation - and she was proud of the country she had a part in creating. How did Australia change in her lifetime? And how much influence did Mary MacKillop have in shaping Australia?

'Mary MacKillop is one of the most influential people in Australia's history.

Mary MacKillop is well-known for being Australia's first and so far only saint.' (Publication summary)