Valley of Blood and Gold

'I'm a daughter of my homeland. We're Irish. It's all we need to know.''This isn't Ireland, Niamh.' Kilkenny Pat cut through her words. 'It's a new country. Even the English aren't English here.' It is 1854 and Ballarat is teeming with miners, dreamers and rebels. On the eve of the Eureka Stockade battle, Fintan Donovan is fighting private battles of his own. Torn between his Irish upbringing and his friendship with an English boy called Matthew Ward, Fintan must make a stand. Will he be dominated by the hatreds of the old world or will he find a new way to live in the new country? Vivid and powerful, The Valley of Blood and Gold evokes a moment in history that is entrenched in Australian national heritage.