An insight into the lives of transgender performers and exotic dancers working in Sydney's notorious Kings Cross in the 1960s is offered in the latest novel by best-selling Hamilton-based writer Deborah Challinor. The Jacaranda House is the third in the Restless Years series and sees the return of Polly, a young Maori woman who makes decisions that lead to a rift with her mother, Awhi. Lynn Freeman talks with Deborah about life on the Cross in the bad old days.