AustLit

'A sweeping Australian saga of one woman's impossible choice between family and freedom.

'With her home and freedom on the line, will her family force her to leave it all behind?

'1937 - Seventeen year old Marina Fairbrother has lived in the small logging town of Mole Creek, Tasmania, her whole life. When she meets Jory Trevelyan, she is intrigued by the young man with the strange name and his tales of the west coast. Stories of wild winds and a tumultuous sea leave her hungering for a freedom she hadn't realised she lacked.

'1993 - After a terminal diagnosis, Marina knows there is only one place she wants to spend her remaining days. The remote coastal property of Noamunga has been her home for the past fifty years. Her memories are imprinted on the walls of the house and the rocks of the cliffs. Here she raised their three children, loved deeply, survived a war, worked hard, grieved deeply and lived a good life.

'But there are forces that threaten to pull her away from her beloved home. Daughters whose well-intentioned concerns hide selfish ambition, a son who puts his future in the hands of the wrong people, and an oil company intent on striking oil just off the coast of her land.' (Publication summary)

'Will wealth and love be theirs for the taking or will they run like sand through their fingers?

'No-one thought barmaid Shannon Harcourt stood a chance with Hal Maitland, heir to the vast Maitland fortune. Yet their unlikely relationship flourishes until, one summer's day on the white sands of Charles Green Island, they realise their true feelings for each other - feelings that must motivate them to survive the coming war.

'Forty years on, Shannon, a successful businesswoman and younger sister Jess, an accomplished chef, have left their days of poverty far behind. Shannon now has her sights set on purchasing the island where her young love began.

'But when reclusive businessman, Dermot Black, becomes acquainted with Jess and shows interest in Charles Green, Shannon is wary of his motives. What could Black possibly want with the island, and why is he so interested in the Harcourt sisters?

'A story of love and competing ambitions, and a reminder to never underestimate the determination of a woman.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Journalist Thea Anderson's adventurous life has been one of endless danger. Even her childhood, where she and her mother were forced to flee Malaya in the fish–stinking hold of a junk in the dying days of colonialism, was fraught with peril.

'For a time it seemed she would find safe harbour in Tasmania in the arms of wine–maker Peter Torrance, but her restless spirit cannot be contained. Thea's ambition is to travel the world as a foreign correspondent but Peter is dedicated to his family vineyard in a blue gum valley: it seems their love must fail.

'Thea makes her name internationally with her coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy then the escalating war in Vietnam, one of the only women in the field. Her job leads her further into peril and death stalks her all the way, until a return to Tasmania opens the door to a new and exciting career.

'Will this opportunity allow her to become reunited with the man she used to love? Or has that dream vanished, like mist in the valley of blue gums?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1826, Van Diemen's Land

When her father dies in a duel, 17-year-old Emma Tregellas is left with limited funds and at the mercy of her odious guardian. Faced with the prospect of being forced into marriage with a man she detests, she enlists the help of her true love, Ephraim Dark, who assists her to escape to faraway Van Diemen's Land. Here she seeks sanctuary with her wealthy uncle Barnsley Tregellas.

1982, Tasmania

The union of Bec Hampton and Jonathan, heir to the fabulously wealthy Penrose estate, brought promise of reconciliation to two warring sides of the same family: a dynasty that had its foundations laid by Emma Tregellas and Ephraim Dark nearly a hundred years earlier. Defying opposition from Jonathan's formidable grandmother, Bec had gained control of Derwent, the agricultural empire that the family had built from the early days of white settlement. Now 85, Bec's dearest wish is that her granddaughter Tamara should inherit the property but Giles, her dissolute son, has other ideas. Will Bec and Tamara succeed in defeating Giles's plans or will control of Derwent pass irrevocably out of the family?

This majestic historical drama spans seven generations of an often-divided Australian family. With them we experience many of the traumatic events of Australia's history: the early days of white settlement, the gold rush, the cataclysm of two world wars and the great depression.

(Synopsis)

'A rags to riches story of a woman of indomitable spirit and of the passionate love that moulds and ultimately changes her life...Fighting her way from humble beginnings in a foster home to CEO of her own highly respected international company hasn't been easy for Hilary Brand. Even after she seems to have reached the top, troubles abound: her business in China, always fraught with problems, is in peril; and her arch-nemesis Haskins Gould – once her closest business associate, but now her greatest enemy – is gaining traction in his unceasing determination to destroy all she has created. Hilary's two daughters – unhappy trophy wife Jennifer and brilliant but troubled journalist Sara – also traverse the joys and terrors of love as they try to tread their own paths in the shadow of such a powerful woman. From the vastness of Western Australia to glittering Sydney and the teeming streets of Hong Kong and Singapore, this is a story of contrasting loves and of a woman of fierce determination...a woman of courage From the bestselling author of Dust of the Land.' (Publication summary)

'Born in poverty, transported for theft, and in love with a charismatic but dangerous man – for Cat Haggard the Tasmanian Governor’s House is not merely a beautiful building but a symbol of all she hopes to obtain in life. From convict, bushranger and accused pirate, Cat transforms herself into an entrepreneur and pillar of colonial Tasmanian society. But how is she connected to a missing ship? And could she be involved in the disappearance of a priceless treasure that, one hundred and three years after her death, will be claimed not only by a foreign government but by unscrupulous men determined to use it for their own ends?

'Joanne, dean of history at the university and Cat’s descendant, is assigned the task of locating the missing artefact. Joanne believes the key may lie in a coded notebook she has inherited along with Cat’s other mysteries. But will she be able to decipher the message and put a century-old secret to rest? And will she survive to join her true love in the Governor’s House – a house that has come to mean as much to her as it did to her long-dead ancestor?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'There was only one way she could guarantee her future...and she knew that she would take it.

'Bella Tucker has come a long way. Born illegitimate and banished to the London slums by her vindictive stepmother, at six Bella is rescued by her grandfather and brought up as a member of the aristocratic Richmond family. Her future seems assured when she falls passionately in love with Charles Hardy, heir to the wealthy Hardy estate — until her grandfather’s death changes everything...

'Heartbroken and headstrong, Bella flees to Australia, where she is offered a job by the charismatic Garth Tucker, owner ¬of Miranda Downs, a vast cattle station in the stunning and remote Pilbara region. After several near disasters, she finds herself falling in love with Garth amidst the dust, heat and the endless expanse of bush.

'Together, Bella and Garth become major players in the new mining industry, allowing Bella to build her dream home, the sprawling homestead, ‘Desire’. But after Garth’s unfortunate death, Bella is forced to deal with circumstances that bring the family close to ruin...and the business Bella and Garth have built to the brink of collapse.

'Can Bella untangle the lies and save the business and her family home? And will she ever lay eyes again on the man she never ceased to love, Charles Hardy?

'Dust of the Land is an epic saga of one woman’s strength through her trials in love and betrayal on Australia’s red frontier.' (Publication summary)

'Born to an Australian father and Italian mother in the Mallee country in the 1920s, Lucia is taken to Italy by her mother shortly before World War II. Trained at the word-famous Toscanini Conservatorium, she survives the horrors of war to become the world’s greatest dramatic soprano.

But she quarrels with her domineering mother, and spends years separated from her true love, while accusations of wartime collaboration threaten to destroy her reputation.

It is only when she discovers the love she can truly give to others that Lucia is able to come to terms with her own past.

Inspired by the lives of great singers such as Maria Callas, in a superb piece of storytelling Voice of Destiny lays bare what it means to be a woman and an artist in a world in conflict.' (Momentum Books website)