Author(s): Jenny Pattrick

March Highlights 2010

Elena catches a glimpse of her friend Jeanie Roper in a New Zealand art gallery. But why should Jeanie avoid her after twenty-four years apart? They had been so close when they were young women, when Jeanie had turned up in Samoa with her bullying husband and gentle father, who had unexpectedly inherited a plantation there. Elena's confusion turns to intrigue when she discovers the gallery is exhibiting the work of Jeanie's daughter, a daughter Elena had been unaware even existed but who shows definite hints of Samoan ancestry. Was there more to Jeanie's flirtation with Elena's brother than Elena had realised, or are there other secrets to uncover? A compelling novel that takes us to Samoa in the 1960s and NZ in the 1990s.