A story of a determined woman’s quest to survive and the unbreakable bond between a child and mother divided by oceans.
London, 1814 – Isabel imagines the land the prisoners from the floating prison hulks are destined for, the prison on the other side of the world, but all she can visualise is a grey, damp, wet, overcrowded land full of decrepit buildings, a land of evil, depraved people, and the horror her convict mother must be living in Australia.
Eighteen-year-old Isabel, the daughter of a candle and soap maker, dreams of seeing her mother again and escaping the rabbit warrens where even the light seems oppressive. Using a determination known by those who have suffered deeply she overcomes poverty, evades brutal men and fights against an unjust system of justice. She makes her way to Australia, but her deepest secrets and past follow her to the sunburnt land and she finds much more than she expects or is prepared for.