Publisher's Synopsis
New Year's Day 1901 sees the birth of Australia as a nation, eager to claim her place on the world stage. Clytie Hart, a daring equestrienne, is travelling with her mother in a wagon train along the back roads of Victoria's Gold Triangle. Once world-famous, Wildebrand Circus is now struggling to survive. But a chance meeting with Rom Delaney, a wild young adventurer, changes everything. His invitation to play in Hoffnung, an isolated gold-mining town, promises to restore the circus's fortunes. To Clytie, the roving life is all she has ever known. Much as she loves her circus family, she longs to put down roots in a real house in a friendly bush town, and to free her mother from her violent step-father, Vlad the Knife-Thrower.
