Rashida Murphy

The Historian's Daughter Rashida Murphy

In an old house with
'too many windows and women', high in the Indian hills, young
Hannah lives with her older sister Gloria; her two older
brothers; her mother - the Magician; a colourful assortment
of aunts, blow-ins and misfits; and
her father - the Historian. It is a world of secrets, jealousies and lies, ruled by the
Historian but smoothed over by the Magician, whose kindnesses
and wisdom bring homely comfort and all-enveloping love to a ramshackle building
that seems destined for
chaos.



And then one day the
Magician is gone, Gloria is gone, and the Historian has spirited
Hannah and her brothers away to a new and at first bewildering
life in Perth. As Hannah grows and makes her own way
through Australian life, an education and friendships, she
begins to penetrate to the heart of one of the old house's greatest
secrets - and to the meaning of her own existence.