Golden Urchin

Mitji had lived with the Aboriginal tribe for as long as she could remember. She was a freak, with her white skin, thin nose and red hair, for she had been born through the power of an ancestor spirit, and left to be found by the woman who had nurtured her. Throughout her childhood she had absorbed the skills of survival in the arid desert, knowing no other life since the dreamtime; but now, as she neared womanhood, her oddness separated her from the tribe, made her an outcast. At last she decided to leave her people. She would go on a long walkabout, in search of the walypalya, the tribe with red hair and white skin like her own, who had come from the great waters. Perhaps they would receive her kindly and let her stay with them. It was a fateful decision, for in her wanderings she came upon a white man, lying half-dead in the blazing heat, and nursed him back to health. Together they made their way to his home, not far from a town called Kalgoorlie, and Mitji became Meg and had to learn to wear clothes, to sleep in a bed, to sit on a chair - and to speak English. Gradually, she came to understand that she was herself one of the walypalya, a subject of Mitjiquin, Elder of Elders of all the white tribes - Queen Victoria. But Meg has barely started her journey on the long road back to self-discovery and a knowledge of her true origins. Skilfully Madeleine Brent weaves a story of mystery and suspense, each twist of fortune revealing new details of Meg's past. In the world of the walypalya, Meg learns that there are those who seek her life; she must face danger and the terrors of a long sea voyage before she finds happiness on the other side of the world. And meanwhile the knowledge that she acquired at the hands of her kindly Aboriginal benefactors is to prove vital to the survival of herself and her friends. Madeleine Brent's worldwide following of enthusiastic fans will revel in this intriguing new novel with its unusual setting, a masterly blend of mystery, romance and cliff-hanging suspense.