To escape her tightly knit small-town family, she marries, only to find herself confined again, this time in a stifling Sydney suburb with a selfish, sanctimonious husband.

Quotes: "Finely honed structurally and tightly textured, it's a wry, romantic story that should make Anderson's American reputation and create a demand for her other work."

- Cleveland Plain Dealer "Subtle, rich, and seductive, this beautifully written novels casts a spell of delight upon the reader."

That particular line comes from part 3, stanza 4: Hope Hewitt in The Canberra Times commented: "The limited round of small-town life is vividly recalled in incidents dramatically presented against the colour, smell and taste of the Australian setting.

[2] Renowned Australian film producer Margaret Fink spent ten years in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring an adaption of the novel to the cinema screen, including a characteristically prescient decision to cast in the lead role the then-unknown Cate Blanchett who was only at the very beginnings of her stellar career.