Stella's Sea — Sally-Ann Jones

Stella moves from her wheatbelt family home to a run-down house in Cottesloe on Western Australia's coast. Her daughter, Miff, has died in a motorbike accident; Stella's husband can't bear to look at her; her father is in a nursing home; her brother is overseas. Stella's only company is her daughter's dog. Every morning Stella walks with Miff's dog along the beach. She's not a part of the scene even though she's conspicuous in her beekeeper things and mismatched garments. Her yellow scarf sparks the interest of Ari, an ex-prisoner and coastcare volunteer. As a new friendship slowly forms, Stella recollects her past to deal with her present. But, can she acknowledge the guilt that prevents her from moving into the future? Stella's Sea is a beautiful novel about the symbiotic nature of life: bees and orchids, loss and love, nurture and growth.