Long-listed in the Historical Fiction Company Competition 2022 With deeply scarred hearts, Annie and Sam need answers Sydney 1790s to England 1830s Annie White is released after serving seven years as a convict in Sydney. She gets a visitor who, with his help, she can start a baking business. She is then asked to assist another sick man, Sam Corbett. Annie nurses him back to health, and a relationship develops. They settle into a life together, barely making ends meet; she realises she’s expecting a child. Sam has his past laid bare and must adjust to the revelations. They both must face their accusers and find that the answers to their questions are not what they expected. Their life experiences seem to cling to them, and unable to shake it they finally, they end up back in England, facing their ghosts and discovering they are not who they think they are. How can they turn their anger and spite into love and forgiveness? The Dance of Life goes on.