At the tree's heart stood the miniature statue of the Virgin Mary, her blue dress faded and her halo of stars askew. She stood beneath a tepee made from pieces of bark and fastened at the top with string. Around her feet were vestiges of faded, dead flowers . . .
In 1900 the Aeolian island of Salina is a small sunlit paradise of fruit trees, vines and fishing boats. When the life of their new-born baby Delfina is saved, Angelina and Fortunato give thanks for the miracle to the island's patron saint, the Madonna del Terzito.
Delfina grows into a beautiful young woman. When she marries Nino, her childhood sweetheart, it is against the wishes of his ferocious mother Ludevina. She is bereft when he leaves for Australia to start a new life for them. And by the time she arrives in the stark landscape and scorching sun of outback Mildura, with their two daughters, she carries a terrible secret in her heart that will haunt her all the days of her life.
