William O’BrienThe Queenslander 3 Oct 1914 p.28 A bluish haze in the far asternAnd galloping seas between,The last-long look at one’s native land,Where boyhood days we’ve seen.For our bows are dipped in smothering spray,Our course to the setting sun.We’re bound for the front, with foot and horse,And a-clanking steel and gun. The transport reels in … Continue reading A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)
World War 1
And the Women Watch and Wait
Today I released a new novel, And the Women Watch and Wait. It is set in Coburg, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, between 1914 and 1919 and depicts the struggles of ordinary women left to watch and wait and pray during the four long years that their men were away fighting a war on … Continue reading And the Women Watch and Wait
Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
Australia’s first major engagement1 of the Great War was on the Gallipoli Peninsula alongside troops from New Zealand, Britain, France and India. They had spent up to four and a half months training in Egypt before they embarked for Gallipoli. The aim was to assist the British Navy in forcing the Dardanelles Strait and then … Continue reading Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
Excerpt – The Fires of Gallipoli by Barney Campbell
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
My Reading – April 2024
Flesh in Armour by Leonard Mann Through the chill blur of an afternoon early in August, 1917, the figures of two men in long, tawny greatcoats, lurched wearily out of the London throng and seated themselves on the stone railing in Trafalgar Square with their backs to the classical portico of the National Gallery and … Continue reading My Reading – April 2024
More Precious Than Gold by Renee Yancy
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Renee Yancy’s recently released novel More Precious Than Gold as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. More Precious Than Gold is the second book in The Hearts of Gold trilogy. The summer sky twilight had deepened to rose and gold, … Continue reading More Precious Than Gold by Renee Yancy
Book Review – Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
It is 1920 and the Great War ended two years ago. Seventeen-year-old Lily Pears had done her best to ignore it. She is a chorus girl with a beautiful voice, who performs under the stage name Lily Valance. Her widowed mother has poured all her dreams into her daughter. Helen Pears runs a shop on … Continue reading Book Review – Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
Book Review – The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
The Wild Air begins in 1909 with the arrival in Cleethorpes of fourteen-year-old Cordelia 'Della' Dobbs' great Auntie Betty, after 20 years spent in America. Della is plain, silent and shy, but discovers a kindred spirit in her Auntie Betty who has an interest in engineering and manned flight in particular, having seen the Wright … Continue reading Book Review – The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull
One Minute Book Review – Mothering Sunday – A Romance by Graham Swift
Traditionally Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, a day when domestic servants were given the day off to visit their families. Jane Fairchild, the Niven family’s maid, is a foundling so has no mother to visit. This Mothering Sunday, the 30th of March 1924, is a light filled day that feels like summer … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Mothering Sunday – A Romance by Graham Swift
Book Review: The Spy by Paul Coelho
This short novel by Paul Coelho begins with British reporter Henry Wales’ eyewitness account of the execution by firing squad on 15 October 1917 of Margaretha Zelle otherwise known as Mata Hari. Of a middle-class Dutch family, Margaretha was brought up by an uncle after her parents died. At school she was raped by her … Continue reading Book Review: The Spy by Paul Coelho
Catherine Meyrick 