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'An unacceptable liaison, a secret birth, a mother's silence and her black child's journey to discover the truth. The story begins in 1948, Sydney, Australia. Pretty, blonde Grace discovers she is pregnant to a visiting black American serviceman. The White Australia Policy is in place and society's judgment matters; so what will Grace do with this baby.
This is the extraordinary true story of Sharyn Killens - the inconvenient child.
The baby Sharyn, is rescued from squalid foster care by a visiting African American champion boxer and taken to live in a 'party house' in Sydney's red light district of Kings Cross. But her absent, elegant mother then abandons Sharyn in a convent-orphanage at age five, where she suffers abuse at the hands of a demented nun.
By fifteen, discrimination within her family, resentment and clashes over her father's undisclosed identity see the troubled runaway teenager arrested in the streets of Kings Cross. She has committed no crime but she is sentenced to the notorious juvenile detention centers of Parramatta and Hay, during the 1960s. Sharyn Killens' solace is her love of music but can she realize her dream to become a singer if, by twenty-four, she is caught up in the Kings Cross lifestyle?
Determined to find her father, Sharyn sets out in search of her roots, a quest taking her across the world and eventually to America's Deep South. But will she find the loving family and belonging she has yearned for all her life?' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: For my father.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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"One of Us” : Orphaned Selves and Legitimacy in Australian Autobiography
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 393-405) Jack Bowers investigates Australian autobiographies. He examines 'orphaned' selves in which the autobiographer is both orphaned in the sense of not knowing one or both birth parents, and orphaned in the sense of being estranged from a fully formed and completed self.' (393) -
Biennial Book Awards 2011 : Judges Comments
2011-2012
single work
column
— Appears in: Images , December - February 2011-2012; (p. 23-24) -
Devil in the Detail
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 324 2010; (p. 27)
— Review of The Inconvenient Child : An Abandoned Australian Child Struggles to Survive and Find Her African American Father 2009 single work autobiography -
Stepping Stones : Mentorship and Being Mentored
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , December 2009 / January 2010 no. 188 2009; (p. 20) -
The Writing Journey of The Inconvenient Child
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , December 2009 / January 2010 no. 188 2009; (p. 19)
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In Short : Nonfiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17-18 October 2009; (p. 31)
— Review of The Inconvenient Child : An Abandoned Australian Child Struggles to Survive and Find Her African American Father 2009 single work autobiography -
Devil in the Detail
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 324 2010; (p. 27)
— Review of The Inconvenient Child : An Abandoned Australian Child Struggles to Survive and Find Her African American Father 2009 single work autobiography -
An Innocent Found Guilty for Living
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 13 September 2009; (p. 7) -
The Writing Journey of The Inconvenient Child
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , December 2009 / January 2010 no. 188 2009; (p. 19) -
Stepping Stones : Mentorship and Being Mentored
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , December 2009 / January 2010 no. 188 2009; (p. 20) -
Biennial Book Awards 2011 : Judges Comments
2011-2012
single work
column
— Appears in: Images , December - February 2011-2012; (p. 23-24) -
"One of Us” : Orphaned Selves and Legitimacy in Australian Autobiography
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 393-405) Jack Bowers investigates Australian autobiographies. He examines 'orphaned' selves in which the autobiographer is both orphaned in the sense of not knowing one or both birth parents, and orphaned in the sense of being estranged from a fully formed and completed self.' (393)
Awards
- 2011 winner SWW Book Awards — Non Fiction
- Hay, Balranald - Hay area, Far South West NSW, New South Wales,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland,
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cSouth Africa,cSouthern Africa, Africa,
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New York (City),
New York (State),
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
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Los Angeles,
California,
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
- 1948-2007