Australia Wine

From the deserts of Egypt to the rolling hills of South Australia, The Limestone Road is the extraordinary story of one man's courageous journey home.

In the late 1990s, John Baker was known as a purveyor of quality rare and old wines. Always entrepreneurial and up for adventure, he was the perfect person for an occasional business partner to approach with a mysterious wine list that was foreign to anything John, or his second-in-command, Kevin Hopko, had ever come across. The list was discovered to be a comprehensive catalogue of the wine collection of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia.

Solving a murder that hasn't happened yet should be easy, right? But when Maxella Conrad barges her way onto the illustrious Barbarani Estate to warn them about a murder plot, her life becomes anything but easy.

In the 19th century, when books were comparatively rare and expensive, encyclopedic compendiums about managing households became very popular. The most notable example in this genre is Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management, first published in 1861. Three years later, Edward Abbott, who described himself as an “Australian Aristologist”, published The English and Australian Cookery Book, which has the subtitle Cookery for the many, as well as the for the ‘upper ten thousand’.

This anthology is a diverse collection of explainers by some of the finest writers from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. It tackles quintessentially Australian topics (where does the term 'mate' come from?) as well as questions being grappled with around the world (what will our homes be powered by in the future?). Inquisitive readers love the explainer columns for their strong and surprising storytelling, deeply researched reporting and inventive illustrations.

Jett Randall has never felt at home anywhere. By his own rules, he should have left his job driving for the Barbarani family years ago, but something - or someone - has kept him there.
Nella Barbarani believes she doesn't deserve a happily ever after. Since her family fell apart, she's avoided anyone she's related to and embraced her nepo-baby label. But when a rival wine-making family hits the Barbarani Estate with a lawsuit that could destroy Nella's life, she's forced to let Jett bring her home.