Kirjahaku

**Revised Edition**SYDNEY, 1925.AT FIVE YEARS OF AGE, ALICE WAS ALREADY A MASTER PICKPOCKET, STEALING IN THE COURTHOUSE DURING HER FATHER'S TRIAL.A decade later, seizing an opportunity to escape his control, Alice is forced to flee the city and hide in the Blue Mountains. There, she finds refuge with two endearing elderly sisters, who have their own hidden ties to crime.Driven by her love for horses, Alice embarks on a journey across Australia - from the lush greenery of Adelaide to the arid outback of Western Australia. Along the way, she faces countless dangers, but her determined spirit keeps her going, fuelled by an unshakable desire for a life filled with love and belonging.Though her morals hold strong, there are times when she must call upon her old skills when the stakes are at their highest.Born into a world of crime and hardship, how far will she go to find her glorious sunshine?

Maggie is a spirited child. Happy and carefree, growing up in a village on an apple orchard where neighbours are good friends and the local landowner, the Squire, is a fair, decent man to his workers. Life should be idyllic, if not for the unwelcome intrusion of air raids. This is Kent, 1941, and World War II is raging. Maggie and her family endure the war only to realise that war comes in many guises. When peacetime is declared in 1945, a different kind of war erupts within her own family with the death of her father and the self-centredness and cruelty of her mother. Life changes from one of happy frivolity to despair and misery. But Maggie is resilient. Despite what life throws at her, the village, her friends, and a yearning for a new life in Australia - a country she has never been to but is fascinated with - all give her the strength to keep moving forward. Ultimately, she learns the most valuable of lessons: to believe in her dreams and to believe in herself.