During her time in tropical Queensland, author Erica Bell frequently sailed around Moreton Bay, and it was during such a journey that she discovered the inspiration for Hilda and the Ship's Doctor. The idea came to her one day when she anchored in a coral gutter just off uninhabited Peel Island after her boat was caught in a storm. She went ashore and came across the ruins of the lazaret, which ultimately led her to unearth the historical facts cleverly infused into this, her debut novel. A story of love, adventure, and innocence lost, Hilda and the Ship's Doctor carries readers into the early twentieth century to follow seventeen-year-old Hilda Kofke on a journey through the South Seas, from Queensland to Melanesia. From Hilda's budding romance with the ship's brooding first mate to the unthinkable things she discovers about her father and the alarming unfolding of her life aboard, the tale seamlessly weaves nonfiction information into a fiction format to explore the textures, scents, and sounds of a dark tropic past riddled by physical maladies and moral disease. This riveting, rich tale is a must read for anyone interested in intricate historical fiction in the tradition of the works of acclaimed authors Charles Frazier, Hannah Kent, and Hilary Mantel.