Book excerpt: When a deviant priest violates a nun, she is sworn to silence by the church in order to avoid a scandaland then married off to the priests older brother, with unforeseen consequences. Abandoned by those in whom she has placed her trust, a desperate mother suffers a mental breakdown and is deprived of her children. Near the end of the nineteenth century, two families immigrate to New Zealand, sparking a story that will follow both from that time through the middle of the twentieth century. As an unholy liaison interweaves the two groups, the emotional tapestry is unravelled and rewoven by women of the following generations, each with her own story of heartbreak and courage. Throughout the tale, sacrilege and defilement are first hidden and then revealed, demonstrating the consequences of ignorance and the condemnation of the mentally ill. In the sweeping saga set in New Zealand, women from several generations of two families deal with the heartbreak of betrayal from those they most trusted.