When Merryn O'Neill's fiance, Jake Hawkins, an officer with the Pacific Islands Regiment in Port Moresby, breaks off their engagement, so he can marry the daughter of his commanding officer, her world is torn apart.<br /> <br />Arriving reluctantly in Port Moresby to take up a prearranged flying position, Merryn doesn't envisage the magical spell this strange and seductive land, particularly one of its own people, will cast over her. But Merryn and Jake share a secret...
'It's always hot in Australia. And you can ride your horses to school and tie them up under a gumtree,' my mother told us with a knowing smile, as we stared at her in awe. Gathered on a cold, misty morning in their Georgian mansion on the shores of Lough Derg in depressed 1950s' Ireland, with debts mounting, this seemed like a dream for the prominent Esmonde family, including the teller of this captivating memoir, then seven-year-old, Rosemary. Hardship awaits down under,...
