When brothers Arcadia and Otto Cirque arrive in a fading gold - mining town with their travelling circus, Saturnalia, the town and the life of young Marianne Ward will never be the same. Months later, the flamboyant Arcadia Cirque is found dead, a pregnant Marianne Ward goes missing, and Otto Cirque sets off to find her. These dramatic events echo down the decades to Mrs Ivorie Hammer, who is dealing with her own problems. Pregnant and vexed by recent catastrophic events in her home town, she discovers that her own origins are not as she thought. As the small community of Pitch is scandalised by several mysterious deaths and disappearances, it is Ivorie's secret history that holds the key to the truth. The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is a truly stunning novel, brimming with charm, droll wit and memorable characters. In Pitch, Edwina Preston has crafted a town that is vivid, real and, at times, quite beautiful - quite unlike anything I've read before in Australian literature.' CHRIS WOMERSLEY.