From Ireland to Kings Cross, a legacy of loss and hope echoes across the generations. In 1955, Tinahely, Ireland, Rosie Hart has big dreams and determination to become a dressmaker-she has great potential because she is smart-her mother Aoife Hart is strong woman who tells her to not to get distracted by a man and apply herself to achieve her dreams, but when Rosie meets Englishman Tom Fuller at a Irish bar, she falls head over heels in love him and after a rather quick courtship, marries him, and after some years, in 1959, immigrates to Sydney, Australia with her young son Jimmy to reunite with Tom so they could begin a great life together and have a brighter future, she is full of hope that her marriage will be great. They make their home in Kings Cross, but as Rosie is tries her very best to create a home for her family, she realises that Tom was not the man she thought she'd married, as he turns out to be an abusive and questionable man. She therefore discovers that there is no room for her or their young son in the life Tom has built in vibrant Kings Cross. As their marriage disintegrates, Rosie decides to rely on herself to make sure her son has a golden future, by making ends meet and soon, she finds hope in the form of supportive friends and new love. Unfortunately, Rosie's hopes for a better life are soon turned to dust when an unforeseen tragedy strikes and her world is shattered. Nearly two decades later, Rosie's daughter Maggie Hart, is determined to move out of home because she is tired of Rosie's constant nagging and pushing of her to make something of herself, and Maggie just wants to live her life on her own terms, Rosie and Maggie's relationship has always been tumultuous because Rosie is still haunted by her tragic past. It is now 1984, and Kings Cross has turned into a crime ridden and drugs trade area, known for all the wrong reasons. Maggie moves out of home and after a period of some progress, starts losing her way, especially when she discovers that all she had worked for had been for nothing, which is then followed by a series of personal tragedies that send Maggie on a downward spiral. In present day Kings Cross in 2017, Brianna Hart, Rosie's granddaughter and Maggie's daughter has returned back to Sydney to organise her late grandmother's affairs and will, Brianna is bereaved because she and Rosie have always been close as Rosie raised her after Maggie died. Rosie had always been a well loved and respected businesswoman by those who knew her. But as Brianna gets down to brass tacks about Rosie's will and funeral planning, she discovers a lot of hidden information that Rosie never told her about, such as her connection to Kings Cross by bequeathing Brianna a secret apartment, as well as her son Jimmy and her marriage to Tom. As Brie pieces together the clues to Rosie's past, she starts to unravel an incredible and heart breaking story about love, passion, violence and tragedy behind the Rosie she thought she knew. Brianna had always been a drifter, she is a professional news photographer who never seems to find where she truly belongs. Brie's piecing of the past leads her to rediscover who she truly is and whether the life she is living right now, is what she truly wants. This was a wonderful and inspirational novel about how a strong woman, despite a legacy of loss, had truly given her granddaughter a gift of hope, and that belonging doesn't mean living in some place, it's about being with people who appreciate who you really are and that's what home truly feels like. I loved this quote from Rosie: "Hope is like a feather. Feathers are brave-they go where the wind takes them. Feathers are patient-they arrive at their destination, fall to the ground and wait. And they're strong." I also enjoyed learning more about the history of the infamous Kings Cross, which is always known for drugs and active nightlife as well as its brothels. Kings Cross must have been truly something back in its heyday, it was liberal than most of Australia was at the time, and it was a place where people felt they could truly be their true selves as there was always an authenticity to the place. After the Second World War, Kings Cross became a multicultural area filled with migrants such as Irish and Italians and Americans who brought their culture with them and made the area diverse. Another outstanding novel by Emily Madden, I enjoyed her previous novel, The Lost Pearl. I look forward to her future works.