In the opening pages of this historical novel, sixteen-year-old Kate Harding is desperately trying to assist her mother who is about to give premature birth to a child in their home in the small colonial community of Victoria in 1861.The experience is gruelling for mother and daughter, and in the end, though a local midwife gets there in time to assist, the baby does not live more than a few hours. It's ironic because Kate's father is one of only...