While Rose was looking forward to celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary, her husband, Lewis, remained cold and detached, his manner increasingly distant from the entire family. Rose knew that Lewis carried his wartime experiences deep within -- experiences he chose not to share. But there always seemed to be an even deeper secret, something more personal. The opening chapter fills the reader with a sense of foreboding that is not softened by the excellent and evocative imagery throughout this novel of a family farming in southern Tasmania in the 1960s. 'Worm in the Bud' -- set in the farmlands of southern Tasmania -- will appeal to readers of family stories, based on the relationships within the family, with the intrigues between siblings, and the ups and downs of their romantic affairs forming the background to the family's struggle to survive the personal and economic pressures which threaten their survival as a family. This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy reconnecting with their own rural roots. People in rural districts will recognise the realism of June's ability to capture the atmosphere of farming in the 1960s, realism springing from her own farming background.