Mrs Moses is a small woman with a big heart and enormous courage.

The only survivor of a Cossack raid on her village, she takes with her a big cast-iron frying pan, so heavy that she can only sling it over her back. Yet this is no ordinary frying pan - it's the Family Frying Pan, blessed with a Russian soul.

From this frying pan Mrs Moses manages to feed the various refugees who are travelling with her across Russia to freedom. In return, each of the group must tell a story around the campfire at night - stories of compassion and bravery, of human frailty and, above all, of hope.

The Family Frying Pan is Bryce Courtenay at his storytelling best.

'It comes from inside Courtenay's soul, which is the soul of a storyteller and a pilgrim ... Get out the tissues.' Sydney Morning Herald