The River Charm — Belinda Murrell

A river pebble on a charm bracelet has an astonishing true story to tell, of one family's bravery and survival in harsh colonial Australia . . . When artistic Millie visits a long-lost aunt, she learns the true story of her family's tragic past. Could the mysterious ghost girl Millie has painted be her own ancestor? In 1839, Charlotte Atkinson lives at Oldbury, a gracious estate in the Australian bush, with her Mamma and her sisters and brother. But after the death of Charlotte's father, things start to go terribly wrong. There are murderous convicts and marauding bushrangers. Worst of all, Charlotte's new stepfather is cruel and unpredictable. Frightened for their lives, the family flees on horseback to a stockman's hut in the wilderness. Charlotte's mother and the children must fight to save their property, their independence and their very right to be a family. Will they ever return together to their beautiful home? Based on the incredible true-life battles of Belinda Murrell's own ancestors, one of Australia's early artistic and literary families, the Atkinsons of Oldbury.