When their yacht is blown onto a reef off the West Australian coast by a willy-willy, Karri, her father and her brother are stuck there for the night until help can arrive. To pass the time, Karri reads her grandmother's recently completed family history, which tells of her ancestors' life on nearby Rottnest Island and their part in the rescue of survivors and silver coin from the Lancier in 1839. To Karri's astonishment a girl from that time, another `Carrie', appears on the boat, keen to search for the silver supposedly lost on the reef. The two girls, both ambitious and creative, leave a strong impression, but there is only a fleeting acquaintance with everyone else in the novel. Based on a real shipwreck and rescue, the author seems to struggle with the background to Carrie's appearance, making for awkward and somewhat confusing reading, but this short, exciting tale of ghosts and long-lost treasure reads well once adventure is to the fore.

Kerry White is a bibliographer and is proprietor of the Bookphile review newsletter. 

C. 1999 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors

Tags: elaine forrestal