At the bottom of the world lies the British penal colony of Van Diemen's Land. On this windswept island, life is hard, brutal and short.

In the summer of 1831 an artist and his family and a doctor and his wife sail into the Tamar river in the colony's north.

All of them have hopes and dreams of a better life.

But on this wild island, hope turns to despair and dreams become nightmares, as secrets from the past reveal themselves and threaten to destroy them all.

Fans of Hannah Kent, Tracy Chevalier and Melissa Ashley are bound to enjoy this engaging, character driven historical novel.