Belle Carson was a good-looker, the best looker for miles around; even those who didn't like her (which included most of the women in town and quite a few of the men) had to admit that ... They also agreed she was as nutty as a fruitcake, and the bush telegraph - which spread any gossip the least bit unusual or outrageous - frequently carried news of her. Belle Carson longs for her young son, Teddy, to achieve the success that eluded her as a stage and screen star. She abandons her husband and their Murrumbidgee River home to pursue this dream, but Belle's obsession leads her and her son - 'the Murrumbidgee Kid' - into a world where nothing is safe or familiar. And Belle soon finds her carefully hidden past coming back to haunt her ... From the rural town of Gundagai to the bright lights and shady underbelly of 1930s Sydney, this is a beautifully written and engaging story about an unconventional family's coming-of-age.