Author(s): Patricia Sumerling

Aust Fiction

Bertha Schippan, beautiful but headstrong daughter of a Wendish-German family, is murdered on New Year's Day, 1902. A posse of Adelaide police arrive at the family's lonely Murray Flats farm thirty-six hours later, but by the time an Aboriginal tracker can start his work, a gale has blown all clues away. An inquest sends her elder sister Mary to trial. But why would she kill Bertha when everyone knew them as loving companions? The Noon Lady of Towitta, a novel based on real events, entwines fact and folktale to delve into the secrets of a family haunted by its past and ruled by a devout and tyrannical father.