‘The wombat’s attack on her knickers was having serious repercussions.’
We meet Mrs Agnes Mulberry at Wombat Hills, NSW in 1924. As a child, Agnes Glock dreamed of becoming a doctor like her father. She had travelled to Edinburgh to study medicine, became engaged to Huw Nightingale and dreamed of them working in general practice together once the Great War was finished. But her world was turned upside down when Huw was reported dead.
Agnes’s friend, Hortense Louise Victoria Mulberry (known to her friends as Puddin’) seeks Agnes’s help. The Mulberry family are wealthy landowners in NSW, but her brother Douglas has been badly affected by his war service. Their uncle wants Douglas declared incompetent so that he can take control of the estate. Puddin’ asks Agnes to consider marrying Douglas to prevent this. After seeing the dreadful conditions Douglas has been kept in by a so-called carer, Agnes agrees. Douglas and Agnes return to Australia and establish a refuge for others injured during the war.
By the time the wombat wreaks havoc on Agnes Mulberry’s underwear, Douglas is physically stronger but still suffering from the mental and emotional effects of war. Theirs is a marriage in name only, but Agnes (who has been deemed a gold digger by many) still hopes to return him to health.
Returning from a shopping trip to Sydney (Agnes’s underwear must be replaced, and she needs new clothes) has Agnes stopping at a circus. Here she is distressed to find a small girl being exhibited as a girl who was brought up by dingoes. Agnes believes that the child has cretinism caused by hypothyroidism. Money changes hands, Agnes rescues the girl and takes her to Wombat Hills.
Ms French then takes us on a wonderfully heart-warming journey with Agnes, Douglas, and the child they rename Diane. We learn more about Diane’s story, while Agnes and Douglas find their own places and peace. Ms French introduces several issues for the reader to consider, including the impacts of what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder (then called ‘shell-shock’), of physical injury and of child abuse.
This novel is filled with a mix of characters both good and bad, a terrific sense of time and place, and a real sense of community: I really enjoyed it.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Tasmanian Bibliophile @Large 