This Golden Land

 

Wood creates genuine, engaging characters whose stories are fascinating
. . . This novel should earn Wood the larger audience in the United States that she deserves.  Library Journal

 

Eighteen year old Hannah Conroy has always dreamed of following in her father's footsetps as a healer.  But in nineteenth century England, the medical profession is closed to women.  She sees midwifery as a back door into that world, but her fledgling career is crushed by personal tragedy.

Seeking to escape a possible murder conviction in England, Hannah's world is turned upside down as she boards a boat bound for Melbourne.  Young and naive with some laboratory notes and a handful of medical instruments, she hopes Australia is a place of a new beginning and a fresh start, a place where she can begin a midwife practice.

Arriving during a period of enourmous change in Australia, Hannah faces a myriad of challenges.  Not only must she fight for acceptance as a medical professional, but she falls in love with and must decide between two men: Neal Scott, an American photographer seeking a new life in Australia, and Jamie O'Brien, a rowdy outlaw fleeing arrest.

THIS GOLDEN LAND presents a sweeping historical saga of Australia and a love story that neither time nor distance can erase.