'In 1803 Thecla, an Irish visionary, artist and needlewoman, was transported to the penal colony at Port Phillip to atone for her heretical ideas about women, politics and religion. Nearly two hundred years later, her descendents, Claire, Theresa, Faith, Grace and Maudie are grappling with life in modern Sorrento, where myth and reality merge on the sea rim; a respectable minister has a secret vice, a Mills & Boon hero is a shifty bludger, a 'prince' washed up on the beach creates sexual mayhem, and the legend of the Holy Grail is about to be revealed as a feminist plot...' Back cover.