Author(s): Susan L Marshall

General

"I always wonder what hope I will find across the terrain. It changes all the time. Right now, the wind plays with it, tossing its dirt into the air, challenging the terrain to ground itself. I remind myself that in fierceness, there is also a delicate beauty. You just have to look in the right place to find it."

Adira Cazon is on the run, afraid of the dark horse that is hunting her down. Forcibly separated from her mother in Mira at the age of 6, she has found refuge in the forest of Redbank.

Under the care of Concetta Mancini, Adira has become a trained detective. Existing under cover as Lira, she is encharged with the responsibility of assisting Girl, a silk merchant who is fleeing persecution from Mira. Adira draws upon her expertise in make shifting across adverse terrain in order to discover clues and to survive.

Together, Adira and Girl become aware that they are trekking a trade route that carries dark, heritage secrets. Working with Adira's husband, Mitch, they unravel an illegal trade operation. As time closes in, Adira realises that in order to locate her mother, she must also take heroic steps towards saving a people's precious heritage.

Susan Marshall has drawn from her extensive research of heritage trade history in order to create this compelling literary fiction. Makeshift Girl: The Secret Heritage Trail is an Up Lit (uplifting), mystery adventure for adults. Deeply humanitarian, the narrative provides a rich tapestry of the spirits and mysteries of heritage trade and its evolving exploitation.