This story is set in London, 1807. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But, among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that 'unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself, he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs. Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life...

凯特·格伦维尔（1950— ）　国际知名的澳大利亚女作家，获得过悉尼大学和美国科罗拉多大学的学位，曾分别在欧洲和美国工作和学习过七年。做过电影编辑、记者、打字员和教师。已有六部小说问世并获多种文学奖项，其中《完美的想法》获2001年英国橘子奖，《丽莲的故事》（已被拍成电影）、《黑暗之地》、《琼创造了历史》等深受评论家和读者喜爱。《神秘的河流》是她迄今在国际上最有影响的代表作。

格伦维尔擅长在自己创作的历史小说中探讨澳大利亚在殖民时期和当代的阶级、种族和性别问题。