Captain Starlight's Apprentice

A tale of passion and courage ... Heyman weaves the strands together with an imaginative gusto that echoes the great Angela Carter ... delightful - The Times. There is warmth, humour and compassion, and a resolution that's nothing short of inspiring ... brilliantly original ... this ranks up there with Kate Grenville or Peter Carey' - Judith White, The Bulletin. In 1952 Rose Dobell joins the post-war migration from Britain to Australia, lured by her husband's promises of oranges and sunshine, of a wonderful new life for them and for the baby growing inside her. New motherhood, though, is less glorious than she had hoped and the loss of home harder to bear than she imagined. Rose soon finds herself estranged from those she loves, incarcerated and terrified. In the midst of her fear, she has a thrilling vision: a woman, wild and joyous, riding on horseback, firing a pistol gleefully into the air. The woman is Jessie Ariel. Rodeo-rider. Film star. Outlaw. Her story will save Rose's life. Inspired by the life of one of the last Australian bushrangers, Kathryn Heyman's Odyssean tale celebrates the magnificent imaginative power of the human spirit.