Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Barney Campbell’s newly released novel The Fires of Gallipoli as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Fires of Gallipoli is heartbreaking portrayal of friendship forged between two British soldiers in the trenches of the First World War. Blurb Edward … Continue reading Excerpt – The Fires of Gallipoli by Barney Campbell
The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Life on the Farm
My grandmother Catherine O'Connor c.1905 Aged 16 My grandmother grew up on her father’s farm at Valencia Creek in Gippsland, situated beneath the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and Mount Wellington. Her father, William O’Connor, had been born at Thebarton in South Australia in 1847. His parents, Patrick Connor and Mary White had migrated … Continue reading The O’Connors of Valencia Creek – Life on the Farm
My Reading – January 2025
Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson Most of the 416,000 men who enlisted in the 1st A.I.F. had their attitudes shaped during the first decade of Australian Federation. Tin Man By Sarah Winman All Dora Judd … Continue reading My Reading – January 2025
Excerpt – Lalji’s Nairobi by Nitin Nanji
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Nitin Nanji’s novel Lalji’s Nairobi as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Lalji’s Nairobi is set in the early years of the twentieth century and is inspired by the stories of Indian migrants who settled in East Africa. Blurb British … Continue reading Excerpt – Lalji’s Nairobi by Nitin Nanji
One Minute Book Review – Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson
Published in 1977, Citizen to Soldier draws together the recollections of soldiers who served during World War 1. These were collected as the result of an appeal made through newspapers in 1966. The soldiers' own words are woven into a very readable narrative. The book looks not only at the soldiers lives before the war … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson
A Day at the Beach
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
Catherine Meyrick 