Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co. In the heat of summer, Australians enjoy nothing better than a day at the beach. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was little different except that beach goers did not strip down to costumes flimsier than their underwear. This delightful photograph was taken on a bright sunny day in … Continue reading A Day at the Beach
My Reading – December 2024
Crucible by J.P. McKinney“Any erfs, madam?”“Oui, m’sieur. Assayez-vous.” Held by Anne MichaelsWe know life is finite. Why should we believe death lasts forever? The Season by Helen GarnerI pull up at the kerb. I love this park they train in.
Christmas 1914
Christmas 1914 is remembered mainly as the first of World War 1, and for the Christmas Truce on the Western Front when British and German soldiers met in No Man's Land and exchanged gifts, and even played games of football. As part of the British Empire, Australia too was at war but had not yet … Continue reading Christmas 1914
My Reading – October & November 2024
The Gates of Memory: Australian People’s Experiences of Memories of Loss and the Great War by Tanja Luckins On 11 November 1993, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great War, an Unknown Soldier was entombed in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Digger Smith and Australia’s Great War: … Continue reading My Reading – October & November 2024
Madeline’s Boy by Sara Powter
Today I’m delighted to be sharing Sara Powter’s newly released novel, Madeline’s Boy as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Madeline’s Boy is the latest book in Sara’s Convict Birthstain Collection and is set in England in the 1830s and New South Wales in 1840. Blurb The race to … Continue reading Madeline’s Boy by Sara Powter
Book Review – The Midsummer Women by Jean M Roberts
Blurb Since childhood, Ethnobotanist Hannah Heronstone has had a passion for healing plants and their use through the centuries. Orphaned at birth, she’s unaware of her connection to an ancient lineage of cunning women, healers, and yes, even witches. But they have not forgotten about her. A surprise invitation to an archaeological dig lures Hannah … Continue reading Book Review – The Midsummer Women by Jean M Roberts
My Reading – July to September 2024
The Middle Parts of Fortune by Frederic Manning The darkness was increasing rapidly, as the whole sky had clouded, and threatened thunder. There was still some desultory shelling. Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War by Joan Beaumont Clarence Joe Russell, known to his family as Joe, volunteered to serve in the Australian Infantry Force … Continue reading My Reading – July to September 2024
Apollo’s Raven by Linnea Tanner
Today I’m delighted to be sharing Linnea Tanner’s novel, Apollo’s Raven, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Apollo’s Raven is the first book in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series set in first century Rome and Britannia. Blurb A Celtic warrior princess is torn between her forbidden … Continue reading Apollo’s Raven by Linnea Tanner
Excerpt – Bandy by Craig R. Hipkins
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Craig R. Hipkins’ novel Bandy as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Bandy is a Young Adult adventure set in the months before the start of the American Civil War. Blurb Isaac’s only friend is a passenger pigeon named Bandy. … Continue reading Excerpt – Bandy by Craig R. Hipkins
Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood
Blurb There he was – John Hughes – a handsome young man with face blackened, clad in a white nightdress and bonnet adorned with feathers. Leading hundreds of other young farmers similarly disguised, he was on a mission. After midnight under moonlight, amid a cacophony of drums, horns, gunfire and general caterwauling, they announced their … Continue reading Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood
Catherine Meyrick 