No Place for Mary — Alan Parker

A powerful story of love, betrayal and corruption inspired by the author's experiences of 20 years as a cop.In a small mining town in Australia a grieving 15 year old girl finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit woven by a corrupt lawyer who seeks to control her. Cast into a world totally alien to her, she struggles to retain her sanity. Her only friends are an ageing brothel madam and a troubled red-haired prostitute.But the girl has an inner strength the lawyer has not seen, and she grows into a powerful woman whose intellect is as great as his own.She finds love elusive, violence unavoidable and fame unexpected as she establishes a name for herself that will span the globe.In a final attempt to escape the lawyer's controlling grip, she takes an enormous risk that will create fortunes and cost lives in a gamble that will cost the lawyer more than he could ever imagine.