Philadelphia Gordon is an artist, a riverboat skipper and a beautiful, independent woman.
Orphaned by a shipwreck, Philadelphia grows up on the banks of her beloved Murray River in Australia with her kindly uncle and strict aunt, seemingly destined for a conventional life. But then tragedy changes everything, and leads her to a successful career as a painter, and then to a meeting with the dashing captain of the paddle-steamer which bears her name.
Nancy Cato spent her working life in the literary field - as a poet, novelist and reporter on an Adelaide daily paper.
In 1984 she was made a member of the Order of Australia.
She died in 2000.
'Its precision of language, firmness of characterisation and richness of the Australian setting invites comparison with The Thorn Birds'
Publishers Weekly
'A novel on the grand scale, with Australia as its background and a beautiful riverboat skipper its wilful heroine.'
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