Böcker av Tricia McGill

Unsure of his real past or name, Finn O'Connor thinks he was born in Ireland and taken from his mother as a baby by a gypsy woman. As a toddler, an English woman then took him to London. About ten he fled to join a gang of boys who survived by their wits on the streets. Five years later, he was arrested for a minor crime and transported to The Colony of New South Wales for a 10-year term. In 1846 as transporting of criminals neared an end in NSW, he was moved to the infamous penitentiary at Port Arthur in Van Diemen's Land. On the day Finn received his papers of freedom an accidental meeting brought him into contact with 20-year-old Esther Blythe. Born in Surrey, England, genteel Esther is kind and caring. As a 4-year-old her parents brought her to Van Diemen's Land where her Papa, a doctor, took on the task of providing medical aid to the prisoners at the Port Arthur penitentiary and its surrounding area. Sadly, both parents were killed in an accident, leaving Esther with no option but to work as a governess/nursemaid. For reasons that even she did not comprehend, Esther took ex-convict Finn under her wing when they met outside the penitentiary hospital. Could be she saw a fellow lonely soul who simply wanted someone to have faith in him. Life seems to take a turn for perhaps the better from then on, but will these two lonely people overcome many obstacles to find the happiness they seek together as they face an uncertain future.

Even in the prospering colony of New South Wales, it would be far-fetched to think a convicted man could consider marrying the daughter of a wealthy property owner. But Remy has larger problems to contend with than Sara's bigoted father. Forced to leave the woman he loves behind, Remy faces overwhelming odds and an ordeal that threatens to strip him of everything; his pride, his strength, health. Sara has many struggles of her own and when Remy finally thinks he has a future with Sara within his grasp, he is sent to a place where pain and suffering are everyday occurrences. Will the lovers ever find true happiness?

At almost seventeen Faith Boswell knows little about the world beyond the lodging house in Ballarat owned by her widowed mother. The mining town of Ballarat in 1860 is populated by those seeking to get rich by finding gold, so their residents are mostly miners on their way to the diggings with high hopes of finding this highly treasured substance. Sadly, Faith's Ma is not the easiest person to get along with and Faith often wonders just why her mother is so bitter. Things start to change unexpectedly one day when a stranger appears at the door of their home-a gentleman who mysteriously seems to know a lot about Faith's Ma, her past life, plus Faith herself. Faith fears that her mother has been lying to her all her life. From that day Faith's life takes a turn, perhaps for the better. One long-term lodger is a widow who unexpectedly presents Faith with an unusual birthday gift. This gift causes uproar which plays a large part in Faith's life from them onwards. Because Faith knows little about life outside of her sheltered existence, she is unable to fathom if handsome Walter Finch, son of the nearby store owners, has real feelings for her or is simply being kind. Faith is soon to find out just how willing he is to help her as she sets out on a new and scary phase in her life.