A fascinating collaboration between Elizabeth Honey and her German translator (who is also a children’s author), this novel unfolds in a series of emails between Henni in Cauldron Bay, Australia and Leo in Berlin. Henni is trying to uncover the story of the German family who lived in a beachside house in 1915 and left suddenly. Leo, while writing to Henni, is faced with losing his best friend through deportation because of Germany’s immigration laws. As their detective work and friendship grows across the distance, they are also grappling with the reality and folly of racial prejudice across the generations. While fans of Elizabeth Honey’s much loved Stella Street series will delight in meeting Henni again, this is also a gripping stand-alone read.

Kathy Kozlowski is from Readings Carlton.