In the timeless tradition of Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds, Harmony Verna creates a poignant, beautifully told story of love and courage, set in Australia and America in the early decades of the twentieth century. The desert of Western Australia is vast and unforgiving. It's a miracle that the little girl dressed in rags and abandoned in the sand is still breathing when an old miner discovers her. He keeps her alive long enough to bring her to the town from which she'll take her name: Leonora. Sent to an orphanage, she slowly bonds with another orphan, James, who fights to protect her...