Sea Captain's Wife by Jackie French

You never know what the sea will give you ... or what it will take back. When Mair McCrae follows her island tradition and hunts for a husband cast up on the beach, she has no notion that the naked, half-drowned man she rescues is not just Captain Michael Dawson, heir to a major shipping firm, but that he's obsessed by a 'ghost ship' carrying golden cargo. On Big Henry Island women make the decisions and knit the patterns that mark a man as their own. But Big Henry is also a volcano, and threatening to erupt. Yet when Mair agrees to accompany Michael home, she finds that the Australian comfort he promised has a danger just as real: a social system that tries to keep women confined to small roles at the edges of men's lives. And as Michael hunts for the 'Ghost' in his revolutionary new steamship, a string of mysterious deaths upends Mair's new life in Sydney. Who is the murderer, and why is Mair the only one who realises what is happening? PRAISE FOR BECOMING MRS MULBERRY '... a captivating story of personal growth, of generosity in its true sense and ultimately one of courage and hope. Not to be missed.' DARRY FRASER, AUTHOR OF THE FORTHRIGHT WOMAN 'A captivating masterpiece - insightful, humorous and heart wrenching. A total delight.' TEA COOPER, AUTHOR OF THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR