I can’t resist a time-slip novel and Belinda Murrell has already established herself as a contender in this genre with The Ivory Rose and The Forgotten Pearl. Her stories are a wonderful way to access Australia’s past; this one draws on Murrell’s own family history, dating back to the 1840s.

Sensitive Millie is living on an old estate in the bush with her mother and sister when, with the help of an old charm, she gains access to the past. There we meet Charlotte Atkinson, whose family is in danger of losing their beloved home, as well as their lives, due to marauding convicts, bushrangers and an abusive stepfather who threatens them. The law is against Charlotte and her mother, but they’re determined to survive and seek refuge in a stockman’s hut in the wilderness.

I was fascinated to learn that Charlotte Atkinson had gone on to write the very first children’s book published in Australia. What a rich and inspiring background Murrell had at her fingertips.

Readers of the Our Australian Girl series who are looking for something more detailed, or fans of Jackie French, will enjoy this.

Emily Gale