"Australia, 1909. A scrap man buys a scab-kneed three-year-old girl for nine shillings and sixpence."--Back cover.

Includes bibliographical references.

Beautifully and powerfully written, this is a look at the darker side of Australia's past - and particularly the status of girls and women in our society - that will stay with you long after you finish reading...Out in that country the sun smeared the sky and nothing ever altered, except that one day a scrap man came by . . .HER name is scarcely known or remembered. All in all, she is worth less than the nine shillings and sixpence counted into her father's hand. She bides her time. She does her work. Way back in the corner of her mind is a thought she is almost too frightened to shine a light on: one day she will run away. A dark and unsettling tale from the turn of the twentieth century by a master of Australian literature.-- Publisher.