Matthew and Jeanie moved to the isolated mining town of Leonora. Matthew's father, Archie, is dying and he spends three weeks out of four caring for him in The Wounded Sinner, his grand, decaying family home. Whilst Matthew is away, Jeanie stays and works as a teacher and looks after their five children. Their eldest, Jaylene, is hitting adolescence and is challenging Jeanie's self-image and burgeoning sense of identity. On a hot desolate day in the West Australian hinterland, Matthew's car finally breaks down. Vince, whose own family is falling apart, stops to pick him up and, in amongst the chaos of their lives, an unlikely friendship is formed. Families -- Fiction. | Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction. | Friendship -- Fiction. | Gold mines and mining -- Western Australia -- Fiction. | Terminally ill parents -- Fiction. | Caregivers -- Fiction. | Fathers and sons -- Fiction. | Families -- Australia -- Fiction. | Male friendship -- Fiction. | Australian fiction. | Western Australia -- Fiction. | Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander content | Australian