Moon Gate

Amanda Geard, whose previous novel The Midnight House was chosen for Richard & Judy's book club, returns with a story that spans three generations and three moments in time: 1939, 1975 and 2004. It moves between Tasmania, London and Kerry. At its centre are a wartime secret, an empty house and the question of how far a person can flee the past.

In 1939, on the eve of war, Grace Grey, an English heiress, travels with her companion Rose Munro to the far side of the world to stay with her eccentric uncle. The raw Tasmanian wilderness draws Grace out of her reserved shell, and so does her Irish neighbour, Daniel McGillycuddy. When Daniel is called away to fight in the Pacific, he leaves behind a secret that will tie the two of them to each other for good.

In 1975, the artist Willow Hawkins and her new husband, Ben, are astonished when an anonymous benefactor gifts them a house on the remote and dangerous west coast of Tasmania. Puzzled but thrilled, they set out to discover who owned the property, Towerhurst, before them, and their search uncovers a mystery that will change the direction of their lives.

In 2004, Libby Andrews lives under the shadow of her mother's grief. Willow has kept Libby from the truth about her father's death her whole life. Then Libby finds a faded photograph of a house bearing the name Towerhurst, and it unlocks a long-buried memory. Following the trail her father never managed to finish, she begins to realise that some secrets are best left buried.