Girl of Shadows, 2013

1830: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Harriet Clarke and Sarah Morgan are working off their sentences in Sydney Town. Each of them is struggling to forget the brutal crime they committed. But their fate is no longer theirs to control. Vicious underworld queen Bella Jackson holds the girls’ futures in the palm of her hand, biding her time until she exacts payment for what she knows about their misdeeds. Harriet, racked with guilt, becomes convinced that their lost friend is haunting them, and while Friday succumbs to the bottle, Sarah has to fight for everything she holds dear. Once again, the girls must join forces to save one of their own. But which one?    

The story of Friday, Harrie, Sarah and Rachel wouldn’t fit into one book, so I had to keep going. This is the second of four volumes about their trials and escapades in New South Wales. I got a bit obsessed about jewellery in this one, and ghosts. An intriguing combination, don’t you think?       

‘Challinor is a good storyteller; her characters have depth and her historical backdrops are well researched, seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn.’

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