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South of Capricorn
But every situation has parts unknown...
"I don't see why that cad should get away with it!" Her cousin, Sandra, was dead now, but Gail Stafford insisted that Kane Farrell be made to accept responsibility for his daughter, be she legitimate or otherwise.
So Gail took the incorrigible child to Kane's Australian cattle station with the intention of leaving her with him. However, things didn't work out quite the way she'd envisioned.
Kane would only accept the child if Gail pretended to be his wife!
"I don't see why that cad should get away with it!" Her cousin, Sandra, was dead now, but Gail Stafford insisted that Kane Farrell be made to accept responsibility for his daughter, be she legitimate or otherwise.
So Gail took the incorrigible child to Kane's Australian cattle station with the intention of leaving her with him. However, things didn't work out quite the way she'd envisioned.
Kane would only accept the child if Gail pretended to be his wife!
187 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1975
About the author
Anne Hampson
151 books155 followersAnne Hampson was born on 28 November 1928 in England. At age six she had two ambitions: to teach and to write. Poverty after WWI deprived her of an education and at 14 she was making Marks & Spencer's blouses at one shilling (5p) each.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
She retired when she married. Later, when her marriage broke up, she was homeless with £40 in her purse. She went back to the rag trade and lived in a tiny caravan. But she never forgot her two ambitions, and when Manchester University decided to trial older women she applied, and three years later had achieved one ambition, so set her thoughts on number two.
In 1969, her first novel, Eternal Summer, was accepted five days from posting and she soon had a contract for 12 more. From the caravan she went to a small stately home, drove a Mercedes and sailed on the QE2. From the first book, came over 125 more written for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette. Alan Boon (the Boon of Mills & Boon) and she came up with the title for 'Harlequin Presents' over lunch at the Ritz. She suggested to Alan that they have a historical series. He told her to write one - it was done in a month, entitled Eleanor and the Marquis under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. She has the distinction of being number one in Harlequin Presents, Masquerade and Silhouette. Many of "Presents" have been reprinted many times (some as many as 16) and are now fetching up to $55, being classed as "rare" books.
She has had 3 awards, one at the World Trade Centre where she received a standing ovation from her American fans, who had come from many states just to meet her.
She was retired, but in 2005 she wrote two romance and crime novels, both of which were published by Severn House.
She passed away on 25 September 2014. She has been written her autobiography, entitled Fate Was My Friend.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 25, 2016
The premise of this was great. Heroine takes her dead cousin's child from England to the Outback so her father can care for her. Hero makes the heroine stay on and pretend to be his wife so he can get rid of his widowed stepmother from the station.
Unfortunately, the only likable person in this story was the hero and he was barely there - so as a romance the whole thing fell flat. The heroine was smug and judgmental when she wasn't being shy and beautiful. And then there is the child . . . She would give Damien from the Omen a run for his money. She was supposed to be four, but talked like she was one step away from juvenile detention. Wanting to hurt people and physically attacking them (as well as animals) is not a sign of a healthy psyche. However, the way the heroine and her family talked about the little girl in front of her was equally damaging. The hero does point this out, but he's just as inconsistent in how he handles her so I gave up on him, too. They should all stick to cows.
As fun vintage trip to the Outback? - well, Anne Hampson's prose just isn't up to it. Margaret Way is the one for descriptions. The most vintage thing about this story was the appalling treatment of the child.
So the plot works out just as you would think with a happy twist.
Unfortunately, the only likable person in this story was the hero and he was barely there - so as a romance the whole thing fell flat. The heroine was smug and judgmental when she wasn't being shy and beautiful. And then there is the child . . . She would give Damien from the Omen a run for his money. She was supposed to be four, but talked like she was one step away from juvenile detention. Wanting to hurt people and physically attacking them (as well as animals) is not a sign of a healthy psyche. However, the way the heroine and her family talked about the little girl in front of her was equally damaging. The hero does point this out, but he's just as inconsistent in how he handles her so I gave up on him, too. They should all stick to cows.
As fun vintage trip to the Outback? - well, Anne Hampson's prose just isn't up to it. Margaret Way is the one for descriptions. The most vintage thing about this story was the appalling treatment of the child.
So the plot works out just as you would think with a happy twist.
October 6, 2018
One of the things I actually love about Anne Hampson books is the way she solves problems with troublesome family commitments. Troublesome teen daughter threatening new marriage? Kill her off. Ailing, jerk father requiring round-the-clock nursing from doormat h? Oh, didn't we mention? He died while you were out of the room. This book doesn't use quite as ruthless a method to resolve things, but it's mighty efficient.
August 3, 2013
I really couldn't resist a romance set in Central Australia. Even though Gail, the heroine, flies to Brisbane on the east coast, takes a train out west (incidentally it had to be the Westlander that I travelled on as a child going to Cunnamulla). From an obscure siding...she then heads off on a two day trip and ends up in Central Australia near the McDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. This is in fact a physical impossibility.
But all the same I enjoyed it thoroughly, the descriptions of station life were vague enough not to have anything noticeably different from my own memories of out west. The descriptions of the Indigenous Australian's working on the station were only mildly patronising and just a little bit dated. I wondered if the author had read We of the Never Never or perhaps Kings in Grass Castles.
The romance was really sweet, with the heroine believing Kane Farrell, the hero, to be the worst sort of cad, getting her cousin Sandra pregnant while on holiday in England and then abandoning her. His agreement to have the child Leta stay was contingent on Gail staying as his long lost wife in order to shift his disagreeable step-mother from the homestead.
The development of the relationship was slow and complicated by a number of things along with Gail's friendship with Dave, who had taken Leta under his wing.
The ending was very satisfactory with a resolution to all the questions that plagued Gail once she got to know Kane Farrell.
But all the same I enjoyed it thoroughly, the descriptions of station life were vague enough not to have anything noticeably different from my own memories of out west. The descriptions of the Indigenous Australian's working on the station were only mildly patronising and just a little bit dated. I wondered if the author had read We of the Never Never or perhaps Kings in Grass Castles.
The romance was really sweet, with the heroine believing Kane Farrell, the hero, to be the worst sort of cad, getting her cousin Sandra pregnant while on holiday in England and then abandoning her. His agreement to have the child Leta stay was contingent on Gail staying as his long lost wife in order to shift his disagreeable step-mother from the homestead.
The development of the relationship was slow and complicated by a number of things along with Gail's friendship with Dave, who had taken Leta under his wing.
The ending was very satisfactory with a resolution to all the questions that plagued Gail once she got to know Kane Farrell.
November 16, 2019
But every situation has parts unknown...
"I don't see why that cad should get away with it!" Her cousin, Sandra, was dead now, but Gail Stafford insisted that Kane Farrell be made to accept responsibility for his daughter, be she legitimate or otherwise.
So Gail took the incorrigible child to Kane's Australian cattle station with the intention of leaving her with him. However, things didn't work out quite the way she'd envisioned.
Kane would only accept the child if Gail pretended to be his wife! (less)
"I don't see why that cad should get away with it!" Her cousin, Sandra, was dead now, but Gail Stafford insisted that Kane Farrell be made to accept responsibility for his daughter, be she legitimate or otherwise.
So Gail took the incorrigible child to Kane's Australian cattle station with the intention of leaving her with him. However, things didn't work out quite the way she'd envisioned.
Kane would only accept the child if Gail pretended to be his wife! (less)
December 18, 2025
Finding a father
When Gail's cousin, Sandra, dies, she is left with the task of taking Sandra's daughter to Australia to a father she has never met. Gail has nothing but contempt for this man who abandoned her cousin and left her to raise the child alone.
When Gail gets to the outback station, she feels something isn't quite right.
Her life changes drastically when she learns she must stay with the child, at least for the time being.
What really happened before Leta was born? And
When Gail's cousin, Sandra, dies, she is left with the task of taking Sandra's daughter to Australia to a father she has never met. Gail has nothing but contempt for this man who abandoned her cousin and left her to raise the child alone.
When Gail gets to the outback station, she feels something isn't quite right.
Her life changes drastically when she learns she must stay with the child, at least for the time being.
What really happened before Leta was born? And
October 11, 2018
I loved this book and remains a favourite for this.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews