MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS

Four mothers. Four teenage daughters. An isolated tropical paradise with no internet or mobile phone reception. What could possibly go wrong?

A group of women, friends since their daughters started primary school, travel from Melbourne to the far north of Australia to visit Amira and her daughter Tess who are now living in a remote Aboriginal community. At first the mothers struggle to re-establish their friendship but over several wine-fuelled evenings they begin to open up about their frustrations, their marriages and their increasing irrelevance in their daughters' lives. Previously best friends, the girls, now all teenagers, have also grown apart. Janey, a swimming champion, is desperate for adventure, looking for opportunities to break free from her mother's watchful eye. Shy and artistic Bronte embraces the indigenous culture and art she encounters in the far north. Tess, Amira’s daughter, loves her new home and friends, and wonders what the girls all had in common just 6 months before. The sudden arrival of Morag’s step-daughter, Macy, changes the dynamic within the group and brings tensions to a head. There’s bitchiness, bullying, sex, confessions, alcohol abuse, bad behaviour and breakdowns – and that’s just the mothers! Kylie Ladd is a novelist and freelance writer. Kylie's first novel, After the Fall, was published in Australia, the US and Turkey. Her previous books include Into My Arms, Naked: Confessions of Adultery and Infidelity and Living with Alzheimer's and Other Dementias. She holds a PhD in neuropsychology and lives in Melbourne with her husband and two children. Her latest novel Last Summer was Highly Commended in the FAW Books of the Year selection and received much critical praise.