Paradise

In a tropical paradise, hell can be but a step away…

Orphaned and destitute in New York after the 1894 financial crash, and pursued by a vindictive Tammany Hall boss, it seems like a good idea for Eva Boehm to escape by joining her Aunt Maria and husband Willi in colonial New Guinea.

But she arrives to find Maria has died, and the repulsive and seriously-weird Willi has unacceptable plans for her.

A second escape with Australian schooner captain Hugo Mortimer beckons, but their idyllic voyage comes to an abrupt end when the schooner is wrecked. There follows a perilous journey in the ship's lifeboat, engaging with fierce Malay pirates, an amoral renegade Englishman, crocodiles, cannibals and the constant threat of malaria.

Could it ever be possible for Eva to survive this and find her true paradise with Hugo in Australia? (84,300 words)