Ikey Solomon is in the business of thieving and he's very good at it. Ikey's partner in crime is his mistress, the forthright Mary Abacus, until misfortune befalls them. They are parted and each must make the harsh journey from thriving nineteenth century London to the convict settlement of Van Diemen's Land. In the backstreets and dives of Hobart Town, Mary learns the art of brewing and builds The Potato Factory, where she plans a new future. But her ambitions are threatened by Ikey's wife, Hannah, her old enemy. The two women raise their separate families, one legitimate and the other bastard. As each woman sets out to destroy the other, the families are brought to the edge of disaster.
- ISBN10 0140279032
- ISBN13 9780140279030
- Publish Date 31 July 2000 (first published 13 May 1996)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 3 July 2006
- Publish Country AU
- Imprint Penguin Random House Australia
- Edition Film and TV tie-in ed
- Format Paperback
- Pages 832
- Language English