The Opal Dragonfly

‘As you read Leatherdale’s second novel, you will feel as though you’re walking the streets of colonial Sydney … masterful storytelling, precise research, and drama that doesn’t let up over the 500-plus pages.’ Daily Telegraph

September, 1851. Sydney, city of secrets and gossip. When seventeen-year-old Isobel Macleod dares to trespass into a forbidden male world, she is plunged into social disgrace, and a wave of ill fortune engulfs her family.

Is Isobel to blame for her family’s fate or could the cause lie further in the past with the gift of a ‘cursed’ opal heirloom?

Isobel’s hopes for her future depend on a charming bohemian who encourages her hidden passion to become an artist. Will she be able to bear permanent exile from her beloved family home? Or will she be transformed into a new self, like a magnificent dragonfly emerging into the sunlight?

The Opal Dragonfly tells the bittersweet story of an ambitious family’s fall from grace and a brave young woman’s struggle to find her true self.

‘This musical lyricist is carving himself a niche with sumptuous historical fiction.’ Australian Women’s Weekly