In 1906 Fan moves from Adelaide to Fremantle with her family so that her mother Agnes can take care of her estranged father Edwin Salt. She has not seen him for a long time but feels obliged to take care of him and takes him on as a boarder. At first Fan is unhappy about being uprooted for the sake of a family member she has never heard of before, but before long she becomes fascinated by her grandfather and the mysteries that surround him.
Fan listens to her grandfathers’ stories about his life in England in the 1840’s and how he came to Australia as a convict in 1861. There is a dark secret behind his stories which she is keen to unravel.
The story is filled with hardships, resentment and love. If you like historical fiction, you will like this book. The author Sharron Booth has certainly done her research into the convict history for this book.
