'Belle Carson was a good-looker, the best looker for miles around; even those who didn't like her (which included most of the women in town and quite a few of the men) had to admit that. But they also agreed she was as nutty as a fruitcake, and the bush telegraph - which spread any gossip the least bit unusual or outrageous - frequently carried news of her.'
Belle longs for her young son, Teddy, to achieve the success that eluded her on the stage and screen. Determined to pursue this dream, she abandons her devoted husband and their Murrumbidgee River home for a more vibrant city life. But Belle's obsession leads her and Teddy - whom the press christens `the Murrumbidgee Kid' - into a world where nothing is safe or familiar. And from her carefully hidden past a threat soon emerges to make their precarious lives even more vulnerable . . .
From rural Gundagai to the bright lights and shady underbelly of 1930s Sydney, this is a beautifully written and absorbing story about an unconventional family's coming-of-age.
