'For you, I will write of it all part truth, part memory, part nightmare my life, the one that started so long ago, in a place so far from here...' India, 1839: Linny Gow, a respectable young wife and mother, settles down to write her life story. To outside appearances Linny is the perfect Colonial wife: beautiful, gracious, subservient. But appearances can be very deceptive. An unforgettable book, richly descriptive and mesmerising from the start, THE LINNET BIRD is the spellbinding story of the journey of Linny Gow child prostitute turned social climber turned colonial wife turned adventuress. Frequently disturbing, often moving and always enthralling, it is that rare thing: a once-in-a-lifetime read.