By 1848 famine has ravaged Ireland, and London remains undecided about what to do. A shortage of female labour in Australia offers a kind of solution and so, over the…

“Conlon illuminates powerfully the dark corners of life we rage against but don’t, won’t engage with, such as death row and the lives of its inmates and prison warders. Conlon has honed her already sharp observations of the little cruelties and comedies of tragedy and in this tale it is near perfect. This is an extraordinary and angry novel, which, once started, keeps you riveted with a peculiar fascination right to the end”. Books Ireland

Quietly passionate, the novel is romantic but no stock romance. Rather, Conlon unfolds the seemingly simple psyche of an ordinary married woman to display a rich and complex intellectual and emotional life.

Conlon writes with humour and style. She is a writer who understands people, half of whom are men. She has all the sharpened up story telling skills of a latter day Edna O’Brien, yet she succeeds in remaining quite unique.” The Scotsman