Bettany's book : inspired by a diary tom keneally discovered

"The epic Australian novel that was inspired by a diary Tom Keneally discovered while researching The Great Shame. When Sydney film producer Dimp Bettany discovers the memoirs of her ancestors, pioneer settler John Bettany and convict Sarah Bernard, she is convinced she has found the vehicle for her next film masterpiece. Filtered through Dimp's correspondence with her sister, Prim, an aid worker in the Sudan, we are drawn into the lives of John Bettany, a man far ahead of his time, as he shares his vivid impressions of a new colony, and his future wife Sarah and her close relationship with an English murderess.