A hundred years later, another young couple uncover the place where the lovers found sanctuary.
But some things are best left undisturbed …
Plot Outline
Adam Hardy lives in the South Australian beachside town of Dunarling. It is a town with great history, named for a Scottish ship that was lost to the coastline in 1886.
Adam is interested in Catriona. She loves beachcombing and one day Adam decides to 'accidentally' run into her while on one of her expeditions to the seaside. This meeting leads to a great discovery. They, and the two town bullies, Richard Vernon and Mike Carter, uncover a cave. It is the cave that the fabled Jamie Ramsay and Margaret Colquohoun sheltered in the night the Dunarling was lost. Within the cave, they make a further discovery. 5 dolls. These dolls are buried in tiny coffins.
What is their purpose? Why were they buried in the cave?
Why does Adam begin to hear a Scottish voice in his head?
How does the diary that that Adam is transcribing, which belonged to a passenger on the ship,
help to explain what is happening?
Why do the tragedies that took place on board the ship, the Dunarling,
mysteriously begin to happen again in the town?
The ship could not be saved, but can Adam save the town and the people he loves?
Study Guide Sample
Chapter 2
1. After discovering the cave, how was Adam feeling?
2. Why did Adam feel more at ease when he and Catriona saw the lights from the town?
3. ‘they’re the worst sort’ (19) Adam was referring to Richard and Mike when he made this comment but why is ‘worst’ in italics?
4. Who is Hamish Leckie?
5. Describe the relationship which Adam had with his parents.
6. What did Adam’s parents think about him spending time with Catriona? Why did they feel that way?
7. Why did Adam name the doll Tam Dubh?
8. Give an example of ‘old fashioned’ language in this chapter.
9. What do you think the words ‘dae ye’ and ‘mischance’ mean?
10. What surprised Adam about the dream he had?
11. What happened to the Dunarling Hardware store?
12. Why did Adam ask Catriona if she owned a locket?
13. Why was Adam transcribing the diary of Ewart MacColl?
14. Why was Ewart MacColl traveling from Scotland to South Australia?
15. Who donated the diary to the museum?
16. What is a ‘bairn’?
17. ‘a thin figure, wearing on her head a dark shawl from which protruded strands of fiery red hair’ (34-35) Draw an image of this woman. What words come to mind when you hear the word ‘fiery’?
18. Were you surprised that Adam told Richard to ‘rack off’ (35)? Why?
19. How do you think you would have felt if you were Ewart MacColl? Would you have been happy to travel by ship to Australia? Explain.
20. Why do you think Adam offered to share the diary with Catriona?
21. How has Adam and Catriona’s relationship evolved since the start of the novel? Discuss.
Spelling
anxiously, uncomfortable, scornful, reluctance, sentence, conference, regional, artifact, demolition, recoil, prescribe, influence, vivid, verandah, lethargic, cameo, neither, conscious, mechanical, stout, eerie, bequest, triumph, venom, badgering, reflected
To purchase the guide in full, please email me:
Back to The Wonderful World of English Resources
Email: Bernadette Sheedy
