A superb historical novel with supernatural overtones. The main protagonist, My Li, is a young man growing up in nineteenth century China, when that country was going through a period of economic and political turmoil and corrupt tongs or triads dominated day to day life. My Li’s family falls foul of their local warlord and, before she dies, My Li’s mother arranges for My Li and his sister to join the gold rush in Australia - the Great South Land - where she hopes they will find security and their fortunes. After the untimely death of his sister, My Li inadvertently finds himself …

The moon rose late on the night in 1797 when Margaret Catchpole rode John Cobbold’s horse to London. Did she steal it or borrow it? Did she act alone or did she have accomplices? Horse stealing was a capital offence in Georgian England. Did she risk her life for love, friendship or freedom?

Having twice been sentenced to death and escaping the gallows both times, she became the ‘notorious’ Margaret Catchpole about whom plays were written and films were made. Before convict transportation to Australia ended, Margaret Catchpole had become the h…

In 1952, Ernie Holden answered the call for men to join the army to fight in the Korean War. Before he left Australia, his sister gave him a diary and said it would be a good idea to write down the events of each day. He took her advice and recorded everything from the weather, camp locations, movies, battles and life living in a foreign country. At the end of the year his sister gave him another diary and he continued to record his day to day life in the Korean War until he returned to Australia. What was unusual was that Ernie could draw and had taken a box camera with him. As keeping record…

Fourteen-year-old Gunnedah ‘Gunnie’ Danson has a 500-word assignment on drought. His late grandfather has left him a box containing a manuscript. It’s been written by Gunnie’s great-great-grandfather, Smokey ‘Gun’ Danson after his journey up the long paddock during a harsh drought as a fourteen-year-old drover in 1910. At the back of the manuscript is an envelope. It’s NOT to be opened until Gunnie has read the entire story. Gunnie spends the weekend at Wiralee Station; a cattle station that’s been in the family since 1848. There, he reads the aweso…

A curvaceous Australian exotic dancer entertains the troops during the Vietnam War. She uncovers a get rich quick scheme involving the sergeants running the American Army clubs. Discovering that she has reported them to the CID, they place a high price on her head. She learns they are watching the only airport out, preventing her escape. Then fate steps in, triggering an unexpected turn of events. This true story is contrasted and interwoven with her story as an innocent girl growing up in Australia. The narrative moves effortlessly between Australian and Vietnam highlighting her evolution …

“Under long-continued pressure from my family and friends, and with great reluctance, I will try to recall and record something of my long life. One of my descendants may be interested in learning where I came from and why I left Central Europe in 1939, mid-life to start all over again in remote Australia.” Thus began the memoir of Karel Koenig. It was written in 1989 when he was in his ninety first year. This was an extraordinary age for a man, who was gassed as a teenage Calvary Officer on the Russian front in World War I, dodged a bullet in the back whilst escaping from the Nazis i…