In the end, we'll all become stories - Margaret Atwood
MOTHERLANDS
Seeking Tribe
A saga in four parts, coming soon.
For all our daughters, for Anne Frank, for Greta Thunberg
and the warrior-women who come after me.
And to all my wonderful friends and fellow-campaigners in
beautiful North-East Victoria, Australia
England, August 1950: The war is over.
Germany has lost, Britain and the Allies have won. All are devastated.
Then, a letter from Margaret's helicoptering mother, Ethel, does what the saturation bombing of Liverpool couldn’t do. It devastates two families and forces Margaret to leave for Canada – a second time. Unquestioning loyalty to her mother triggers events that breed secrets, family dysfunction, the displacement of military life. These catapult Ethel’s daughter Margaret and granddaughter Maggie far across the oceans.
Yet somehow Maggie meets another young girl, Anne Frank.
She will be Maggie's spirit guide through life.
In writing Motherlands, I wanted to explore intimate terrain. I wanted to tell the story of the trauma passed from mother to daughter as a consequence of unfair social structures, political upheaval and -- war.
Men go to war. Men get the honours.
And what of the women?
Women and children are the main casualties in war.
These invisible lives – often overlooked by history – deserve honours too.
This saga moves across two oceans from the Liverpool dockyards, to armed forces bases in Canada and Germany and finally, to Australia. In researching this story, I discovered how a pattern of unseen injury and suffering is passed from mother to daughter. Yet they persist. They struggle to keep their children alive, build lives and seek their tribe. They sabotage themselves, too, and their families – often making life choices driven by trauma, long after the crises have passed.
Maggie, the child most impacted – now a castaway in Australia – follows her spirit guide, Anne Frank, and learns about loss, reconnection, resilience and compassion.
This narrative contributes another perspective to books like Kate Grenville's Room Made of Leaves.
FAIR GAME
An anthology of stories through the eyes of women and girls.
Coming soon. Excerpt on my blog.
She remembered who she was, and the game changed—Lalah Deliah
TAKE-AWAY PIZZA IN ARNHEM LAND
A novella. Coming soon.
Three friends from vastly different cultures confront their demons in Australia's remote Arnhem Land.
You don't want me to talk about
Native titles process being for the white man
You don't want me to talk at all
Most of the time you have your 'exotic' pets
You want me to nod, smile, and listen to you
And it doesn't really matter if I don't hear you
You don't want me to talk about
How I have got a voice
And you don't listen
--Charmian Paperbark Green, from False Claims of Colonial Thieves, Charmian Paperbark Green and John Kinsella.