'What is it like to stake everything on a relationship based only on letters?
Laila is desperate to escape life in the longhouse in her Malaysian village. Desperate enough to travel alone to Australia to marry Jim, a fruit-picker living in Renmark, South Australia.
Jim hasn't had much luck with women - they've always given him a hard time. He pins his hopes on Laila changing all that. Marital bliss, a new life.
But when Laila and Jim finally meet, they each discover the reality of the other, and things don't go as planned.
Handpicked is a subtle and sensitive exploration of the world of the mail-order bride. It is also a compelling and finely observed account of expectations and consequences, words and actions, truth and love.' (Publisher's blurb)
