Books@Stones event: The Scent of Oranges by Kathy George

Join us at Books@Stones on 22 May for local author Kathy George in-conversation about her latest novel, The Scent of Oranges - a captivating tale of love and sacrifice with a twist! 

A retelling of one of literature's great novels, Oliver Twist, from the point of view of Nancy, one of the most sympathetic, most maligned and most tragic of Dickens's characters. Nancy has spent her whole life on the vibrant and gritty streets of Victorian London, first as one of Fagin's child pickpockets and now on the arm of violent and mercurial Bill Sikes. Nancy does what she must to get by. She's attuned to the harsh realities of life, but also knows how to find moments of beauty amid the grime, even if it is only the scent and taste of an orange - its miraculous colour and form.

When she embarks on a relationship with enigmatic gentleman Mr Rufus, it awakens emotions she's never felt before, and makes a better life feel possible for the first time. But when she takes cherubic orphan Oliver Twist under her wing, something even more elusive and appealing seems to be within reach: redemption.

Kathy George was born in South Africa, and has since lived in Namibia, New Zealand, and Australia. A hopeless romantic, she fell in love with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier as a teenager, and includes Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations among her favourite novels. She has worked as a legal assistant, but her true enthusiasm has always been for writing, and she holds an Masters of Fine Arts in Australian Gothic literature from Queensland University of Technology. Kathy lives in Brisbane and her other books are Sargasso and Estella.