A novel about Marion Oak Sticht and her life on the west coast of Tasmania after her husband Robert Sticht had established himself as a genius metallurgist and then lost his fortune on a bad investment. They moved from America to the west coast of Tasmania and built a wonderful house called Penghana and Robert amassed a world class collection of books and fine art. They were unable to retunr to the US when things went bad and after Robert died Marion moved to the ghost town of Balfour. The trajectory of Marion's life is tragic.