The Painting — Alison Booth

A young Hungarian woman confronts her family's past in an engrossing quest for a stolen painting.When Anika Molnar flees her home country of Hungary not long before the break-up of the Soviet Union, she carries only a small suitcase – and a beautiful and much-loved painting of an auburn-haired woman in a cobalt blue dress from her family's hidden collection.Arriving in Australia, Anika moves in with her aunt in Sydney, and the painting hangs in pride of place in her bedroom. But one day it is stolen in what seems to be a carefully planned theft, and Anika's carefree life takes a more ominous turn.Sinister secrets from her family's past and Hungary's fraught history cast suspicion over the painting's provenance, and she embarks on a gripping quest to uncover the truth.Hungary's war-torn past contrasts sharply with Australia's bright new world of opportunity in this moving and compelling mystery.