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After twenty years away, Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage returns to Dungatar. Dungatar is a small country town, where the townspeople's eccentricities are many and varied – from Sergeant Farrat's predilection for cross-dressing, to pharmacist Almanac's retributive scheme of potion dispensing, not to forget the affairs and assorted dark secrets.
But none of these can compare to the sin of Tilly and her mother: to have come from somewhere else. At first ostracised, the townspeople gradually accept her in order to make use of her extraordinary dressmaking skills and at last, Tilly feels that she might have found home.
But small towns are strange places, where vanity rules and, once again reviled, she sets out to teach the town a lesson. In the process she faces the ghosts of her past, and wreaks a havoc that provides a most satisfying revenge.
About the Author
Rosalie Ham was born, and raised in Jerilderie, NSW, Australia. She completed her secondary education at St Margaret's School, Berwick in 1972. After travelling and working at a variety of jobs (including aged care) for most of her twenties, Rosalie completed a Bachelor of Education majoring in Drama and Literature (Deakin University, 1989), and achieved a Master of Arts, Creative Writing (RMIT, Melbourne) in 2007. Her first novel, The Dressmaker was published in 2000. Her second novel, Summer at Mount Hope was published in 2005. Rosalie has also had stories published in Meanjin, The Age, The Bulletin and Invisible Ink. When she is not writing, Rosalie teaches literature.
In The Press
Ham writes delightfully rich set pieces and descriptive passages ... Ham's eye for the absurd, the comical and the poignant are highly tuned. It is a first novel to be proud of, and definitely one to savour and enjoy.
~ The Weekend Australian, 2000
