Testing the Limits

"Heartfelt and bittersweet. A delightful read, this beautifully written book comes highly recommended." Goodreads

1930s England: and for a group of friends it seems as if the sunny days of sailing, flying and love will never end.

A deepwater sailing ship takes restless young Eliza McKee to a new life in glamorous London, but when she meets the handsome star of a talking film it's not quite the life she expects. Eliza's brother Pete yearns to fly, and pilot Billie Quinn can teach him. Pete calls her a sarcastic, scowling Amelia Earhart, but it's Billie who knows how much Pete has to learn.

Eliza's aunt, actress Izabel Peres, hides a secret from the world. Then she falls for lawyer Felix with his buccaneering smile, and a case of shellshock he believes is behind him. Doctor Harry Bell, Eliza's old shipmate, loves golden Charlotte, but Charlotte just loves flirting and gambling — especially with flyboy Pete's heart.

For Eliza's friends, the days of contentment are fading before the gathering dusk of war. And when a great white barque encounters the coast one foggy night, more than an era of sail finds itself tested to the limits.

This is the first book in the Tempo series, by the winner of the Mountbatten Maritime Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction.