Beautifully set, brilliantly realised, this acclaimed novel from the golden age of epic storytelling is now repackaged as a Hodder 'Great Read'

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.

"'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.'" - She