The second novel from the author of the highly absorbing The House at Riverton, the viewers’ favourite of the Richard and Judy titles of last summer. This is even better. Not quite as sad and covering over 100 years, it’s a family mystery full of twists and turns running from Australia back to Cornwall. Fascinating, highly rewarding and very satisfying, it’s a fantastic read.

Comparison: Judith Lennox, Diane Setterfield, Michelle Paver (adult novels).

A lost child . . .

On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her –but has disappeared without a trace.

A terrible secret . . .

On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell Andrews learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.

A mysterious inheritance . . .

On Nell’s death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold – secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.

Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland, Australia. She has degrees in Dramatic Art and English Literature and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. Kate lives with her husband and two young sons in Brisbane.   Photograph © Martin Bleasdale More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation