A Curious Intimacy

by Jessica White

In the 1870s two remarkable women meet in a remote country town in Western Australia. Ingrid is a botanist, fiercely independent and travelling alone as she collects botanical specimens. She's also trying to out-run a broken heart after her lover, Helena, was forced to marry.
Ingrid puts her own troubles aside on meeting Ellyn, a young woman living in stark isolation, and driven close to madness by the death of her baby daughter. Ellyn's husband is away indefinitely and she's had no word from him, while the small community has turned its back on her because of her 'unseemly' grieving.
When the two women meet, they forge a bond that grows ever deeper. But can their intimacy find acceptance in their conventional world?
A Curious Intimacy is a sensual and surprising novel about love and the sacrifices we make in the name of it.

Jessica White grew up on a property near Boggabri, New South Wales. She is currently completing a PhD at the London Consortium on written communication between England and Australia. A Curious Intimacy is her first novel.

Well-written and interesting, revealing the lives of women in the south west of Australia in the 1870's. Contrasts independent botanist Ingrid with lonely, frightened Ellyn and charts their growing friendship. Believable setting of forest and bush, tiny towns and isolated farms and social conventions of the time.