Substitute Child (Paperback or Softback)

Scott Wyatt had been a constant presence in her life, which was surprising given that he had died before she was born. Because of this, Charlotte Wyatt never quite felt that she was an only child. In fact, some days she felt like the substitute child – born of grief to replace the memory of a child who only lived a day.

No one ever called her ‘Substitute child’ to her face. But she heard it in the words not said. For example, when her mother would introduce her, she could swear that she could him them thinking, ‘Oh you’re the child who came after Scott died.’

Her mother had been married before she met her father. There was definitely a back story to their relationship …

And so to now…

A deckhand in France discovers a bottle with a letter inside. The bottle has floated all the way from Byron Bay in Australia to the south of France. The discovery prompts a whirlwind journey for Charlotte Wyatt into the world of paparazzi, European royalty and the criminal underworld.

Substitute Child is the story of a student travelling to the other side of the world to collect a bottle with a love letter to a brother she never knew and a journey to discover who she is and what she wants from her life. All the while responding to three potential suitors, including Scott, her lifelong nemesis who may have been named after her brother.


The Northern Rivers Series
Boy from Bangalow (Prequel)
Over Byron Bay
Substitute Child
Roman Roulette
Missing in Myanmar
Nonsense in the North

Jane has a deep connection to the Far North Coast of New South Wales and also to the south of France. Her great grandparents owned a farm a little way out of Byron Bay before moving into a house on Browning Street. Her grandparents were long term residents of the nearby town of Mullumbimby. Jane currently lives at Possum Creek, not far out of Bangalow - or she would if she was real rather than being the pen name of someone who would prefer to remain anonymous. This is her second novel. Her first novel was Over Byron Bay.