A vivid and compelling story of enduring love and divided families from one of our bestselling historical novelists. When armed conflict drives a wedge between Maori and Pakeha, not everyone can choose sides easily. For Isla McKinnon, the choices are bitter. taken in by local Maori when her parents are brutally murdered, she has grown to womanhood and taken a Maori husband. In a thrilling tale of love and loss from the land wars - when simmering tensions between Maori and the encroaching Pakeha settlements exploded into bloody warfare - love and trust are put cruelly to the test. Separated from her husband and her family and restored to Auckland society, Isla must learn to survive in both worlds. Inevitably, she must decide between them, and lose part of her heart forever.
Book three in the best-selling Smuggler's Wife series by one of our leading historical novelists. Kitty Farrell, headstrong and passionate as ever, is heartbroken over the apparent death by drowning of her husband Rian. Alone and grieving on the goldfields of Ballarat she turns to Rian's long-time shipmate Daniel, who has loved her from afar for many years. The consequences will be disastrous and challenge every character in this brilliant third instalment in Deborah Challinor's extraordinary Smuggler's Wife series. Vividly drawn, meticulously researched and driven by a powerful page-turning narrative, Band of Gold will resonate in the hearts of readers for a long time. 'Challinor is extraordinarily talented.' - New Zealand Books
The adventures of the transported convict women continue in this stunning sequel to Behind the Sun. Philippa Gregory meets Bryce Courtenay as Sydney's history comes vividly to life. What had they done? What had she and Sarah and Friday done? 1830: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Harriet Clarke and Sarah Morgan have been transported to Sydney from London. Sarah has been assigned to jeweller Adam Green, Harriet is a maid for the Barrett family, and Friday is working as a prostitute in a brothel. Each of them is struggling to forget the brutal crime they committed. But their fate is no longer theirs to control. Vicious underworld queen Bella Jackson holds the girls' futures in the palm of her hand, biding her time until she exacts payment for what she knows about their misdeeds. Harriet, racked with guilt, becomes convinced that their lost friend is haunting them, and while Friday succumbs to the bottle, Sarah has to fight for everything she holds dear. Once again, the girls must join forces to save one of their own. But which one? And in the background Bella Jackson waits and watches ... Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'Challinor is a good storyteller; her characters have depth and her historical backdrops are well researched, seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn' Bookseller + Publisher 'Seamlessly fuses historical fact and engrossing fiction' Queensland times
A captivating story of family and friendship through one decade of incredible change, from NZ's no.1 bestselling author. In 1950s Auckland things are changing - and fast. Women are joining the workforce in numbers, whitegoods are readily available and the age of rock'n' roll has arrived. Allie Manaia works the Elizabeth Arden counter at Smith and Caughey's. It's been two years since the Dunbar and Jones fire, where some of her friends perished, but she still has nightmares. Kathleen Lawson -- rich, lonely and bored -- is one of Allie's customers. Kathleen takes a shine to Allie, but when Kathleen discovers Allie's husband is Maori, her attitude changes. Is she trying to make friends or poison the relationship between Sonny and Allie? Meanwhile, Sonny's beautiful younger sister, Polly, is embracing the more relaxed moral standards of the era, living a vibrant but wayward life as a waitress-model-goodtime girl while leaving her young daughter to be raised by her mother. As each woman navigates the shifting social and cultural landscape of the 1950s, she is faced with new possibilities and decisions - with freedom comes joy, but also fear and, occasionally, mistakes. Told in Deborah Challinor's trademark style - equal parts heart and humour - From the Ashes follows the fortunes of the women of three families through one decade of incredible change. Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'Challinor is a good storyteller ... seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn' Bookseller + Publisher 'The perfect blend of fact and fiction' New Zealand Herald
A full-blooded romance set in times of conflict. In 1951 some 1000 Waikato Miners went on strike to support their brothers in the Seaman's Union engaged in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout. times were tough and when the Government implemented harsh and heavy-handed emergency regulations, families were divided along political lines, and bitter accusations of sabotage and treachery began to tear small mining communities apart.Against this emotive backdrop, in the tiny mining village of Pukemiro, a story of love and treachery is also being played out in the personal lives of some of those intimately connected with the strike. Ellen McCabe, wife of the local union secretary and hero, thomas McCabe, and a life-long Union woman, finds herself caught up the passion of the fight - and a new-found passion of her own - when a charismatic war veteran, Jack Vaughan comes to Pukemiro and befriends her husband. In a powerful tale of love and conflict, Ellen is forced to examine her loyalties and make heart-shattering choices, as the country and community around her is pulled apart.
In her bestselling historical romances Tamar and White Feathers, Deborah Challinor introduced feisty Tamar Deane, the Cornish seamstress who became the owner of Auckland's most successful brothel, and whose scandalous affair with Kepa, handsome son of a rangatira, resulted in the birth of her illegitimate son, Joseph.White Feathers, which continued the story of Tamar and her children against the backdrop of the First World War, ended with the death of her beloved husband Andrew. In her bestselling historical romances tamar and White Feathers, Deborah Challinor introduced feisty tamar Deane, the Cornish seamstress who became the owner of Auckland's most successful brothel, and whose scandalous affair with Kepa, handsome son of a rangatira, resulted in the birth of her illegitimate son, Joseph.White Feathers, which continued the story of tamar and her children against the backdrop of the First World War, ended with the death of her beloved husband Andrew. In the third and concluding volume of the tamar trilogy, tamar is now a wealthy widow with an extensive and prosperous estate in the Hawke's Bay, with her children settling into their own relationships, some more happily than others.In the years leading up to and including World War two, tamar struggles to lead her growing family through the economic slump that became the Great Depression. the resulting years of social upheaval, including violent strikes, hunger marches and the Napier Earthquake, leave none of them untouched. When a riding accident almost ends her life, tamar is forced to draw on her iron will to survive. Left with a permanent limp and a growing awareness of her own mortality, she is forced into ruthless decisions to protect her family and Andrew's dearly loved Kenmore. At the same time, her son James' racist disapproval of her relationship with Kepa and growing flirtation with fascism tests her to the core.the war wreaks havoc on the extended Murdoch family, and through the eyes of tamar's grandchildren, we see its awful effect on a generation facing the enemy in both Europe and the Pacific. At the same time, battles are also being fought on the homefront, which don't end when peace finally prevails. In a powerful and wide-reaching conclusion to this compelling family saga, Deborah Challinor explores the effects of war on three generations of a passionate and fiery New Zealand family
A dramatic saga of love, scandal and survival. When Tamar Deane is orphaned at 17 in a small Cornish village, she seizes her one chance for a new life and emigrates to New Zealand. Alone and frightened on the Plymouth quay she is befriended by an extraordinary woman. Myrna Mactaggart is also travelling to Auckland, with plans to establish the finest brothel in the Southern Hemisphere. Myrna's friendship is unconventional to say the least, but proves invaluable when tamar makes some disastrous choices in the new colony. Tamar is the first in a sweeping family saga covering several generations and encompassing the Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. Deborah Challinor successfully brings colonial New Zealand's complex social and racial interactions alive through a tight and exciting plot with compelling characters and a strong, dramatic story which will delight fans of this genre.
When 18-year-old Kitty Carlisle's father dies unexpectedly in Norfolk in 1838, Kitty and her mother are left impoverished. After Kitty is discovered in a compromising position with an unscrupulous adventurer, her reputation is left in shreds. In desperation, her mother banishes Kitty to the colonies in disgrace, under the guardianship of her dour missionary uncle and his long-suffering wife. Against the backdrop of the wild and unruly Bay of Islands in the period leading up to the signing of the treaty of Waitangi, Kitty meets and falls in love with Ryan Farrell, a rude, aloof and atheistic ships captain. When she discovers he is also a gun runner, her loyalties are torn and her tempestuous nature leads to an estrangement. the path to true love is tortuous, involving rampaging Maori war parties, illicit sexual liaisons and incarceration in Sydney's Hyde Park Barracks, forgery, betrayal and death at sea. A tempestuous romance and a lively adventure with a fiery and memorable heroine, Kitty is a stand-alone novel, with potential as an ongoing saga of love and adventure on the high seas in the Pacific of the 1800s, by one of our leading historical novelists.
1832: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Sarah Morgan and Harriet Clarke have been serving their sentences in Sydney Town for three years. For much of that time they have lived in fear of sinister and formidable Bella Jackson, who continues to blackmail them for a terrible crime. Each of them has begun to make a life for herself, but when Harrie's adopted child Charlotte is abducted and taken to Newcastle, the girls must risk their very freedom to save her. But is Friday up to the task? Will the desperate battle with her own vices drive her to fail not only herself, but those she loves and all who love her? In this final volume of a saga about four convict girls transported halfway around the world, friends and family reunite but cherished loved ones are lost, and an utterly shocking secret is revealed.
The gripping second instalment to Tamar. In 1914, Tamar Murdoch's brothel-keeping days are behind her. Her life is one of ease and contentment at Kenmore, a prosperous estate in the Hawke's Bay, as storm clouds over Europe begin casting long shadows. In this gripping second instalment of Deborah Challinor's sweeping family saga, tamar's love for her children is sorely tested as one by one they are called, or driven, into the living hell of the First World War. During the Boer War, Joseph, her illegitimate eldest son, fought as a European, but this time he is determined to enlist in the Maori Battalion, despite his growing attraction for his childhood friend, Erin. As loyalties within the Murdoch clan are divided, and the war takes tamar and Andrew's only daughter far from her sheltered upbringing, the people and experiences their children encounter will shape the destiny of the Murdoch clan for generations to come.
We were known to the enemy as "grey ghosts". We could be here, and we could be there.' - 'Sniper' "We were known to the enemy as 'grey ghosts'. We could be here, and we could be there . . . " the Grey Ghosts were New Zealand's Vietnam veterans. their powerful story includes chilling accounts of death, injuries and emotional breakdown, along with the intense comradeship of soldiering, and a pervasive sense of humour that is uniquely our own. Acclaimed writer and historian Deborah Challinor interviewed 50 men who served in Vietnam, who speak out about 'fragging' (killing superior officers), the New Zealand Government's role in Agent Orange and chemical exposure, and their hostile reception when they returned. the result is compelling, reliving the Vietnam experience in vivid detail. First published in 1998, this updated edition includes new material on the subsequent handling of veterans' claims, and the reconciliation parade on Queen's Birthday weekend in 2008, when the men were finally welcomed home.
Here we are, fighting alongside the so-called mightiest nation on earth with all the firepower you could ask for—jets, B52s, tanks, gunships, arty, rockets, napalm, you name it—and the VC are creeping around with a rifle each and we still can’t beat the beggars! And it’s getting worse, not better. It’s 1969. The sixties are still swinging, man is headed for the moon and surfing-mad Davey is out to win the inaugural Newcastle Under-14 Surf Championship. But when his older brother Tom is drafted to fight in the army, the far-away war in Vietnam creates waves very close to home.
A story of love, family, adventure and intrigue, set against backdrops of the gold rushes in Australia and New Zealand and the Opium Wars in China. When Kitty and Rian Farrell sail their schooner Katipo III into Dunedin Harbour in 1863, they are on tenterhooks. The new Otago goldfields have attracted all-comers, including their friend Wong Fu from Ballarat, who has sent a message for their help. To their surprise, Wong Fu reveals he is more than a mere fortune seeker - he is in fact a Cloud Leopard tong master and his daughter, Bao, has been kidnapped and taken to opium-ridden China. Kitty and Rian agree to retrieve the missing Bao, but as they sail closer to their quarry the stakes jump dramatically. And little do they know that the deadliest threat lies in their midst. The Cloud's Leopard's Daughter takes us through dangerous and unpredictable shoals of love, lust, greed and opium, in search of not one, but two, fiery yet vulnerable women - puppets in other people's calculated games. Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'Seamlessly fuses historical fact and engrossing fiction' Queensland Times 'Immensely enjoyable' Australian Women's Weekly 'Challinor is a good storyteller; her characters have depth and her historical backdrops are well researched, seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn.' Bookseller and Publisher 'Challinor has been dubbed Australia's answer to Philippa Gregory' Brisbane Times
1830s Sydney Town - with its bar brawls, blackmail, friendship, romance, tattoos, gin and much more - is brought vividly to life as feisty prostitute Friday, naive seamstress Harrie and cunning thief Sarah try to make their way as transported convict women. Driven by madness ... saved by love. 'A door slammed shut somewhere inside Harrie, trapping all that she was and everything she'd ever been. The voices had won. She was damned. She was ... no one.' 1831: Assigned to a good family in Sydney town and now learning the art of tattoo, convict girl Harrie Clarke is still haunted by the horror of the brutal murder she and friends Friday Woolfe and Sarah Morgan committed the previous year. Powerful and vindictive criminal Bella Jackson continues to demand money in exchange for her silence regarding their crime. And just when it seems that Harrie and her fervent and long-time admirer James Downey might finally be united, an act of pure nastiness severely threatens their chances - and Harrie's life. When things go from bad to much, much worse for Harrie, she is left teetering on the brink. But Friday, in love at last, is battling demons of her own, and Sarah is forced to lie low for fear of attracting the attention of the police. Who will be the one to rescue Harrie?
Polly Manaia is living in Sydney's notorious Kings Cross, working as an exotic dancer. She's desperate to bring her young daughter to live with her, but beneath her brash confidence lie dark secrets which threaten to drag her under. Gina is excited to live with her mum again. She's mature for an eleven-year-old, but can this young girl cope with Polly's demons? Rhoda and Star, transgender performers and Polly's flatmates, bring stability to Polly and Gina's lives. Yet this unlikely little family will find themselves threatened in more ways than one. The Jacaranda House is a fascinating portrayal of a shifting society and a beautiful portrait of motherhood and identity.
Four women on a perilous journey to a new world, can rely only on their wits to survive ...and each other Irreverent and streetwise prostitute Friday Woolfe is in London's notorious Newgate gaol, awaiting transportation. There, she meets three other girls: intelligent and opportunistic thief, Sarah Morgan, naive young Rachel Winter, and reliable and capable seamstress, Harriet Clarke. On the voyage to New South Wales their friendship becomes an unbreakable bond - but there are others on board who will change their lives forever. Friday makes an implacable enemy of Bella Jackson, a vicious woman whose power seems undiminished by her arrest and transportation, while Harriet is taken under the wing of an idealistic doctor, James Downey. Rachel catches the eye of a sinister passenger with more than honour on his mind. When they finally arrive on the other side of the world, they are confined to the grim and overcrowded Parramatta Female Factory. But worse is to come as the threat of separation looms. In the land behind the sun, the only thing they have is each other ...
The captivating first novel in a new historical fiction series from the popular bestselling author of FROM THE ASHES, for fans of Jackie French, Tea Cooper and Kirsty Manning
The captivating first novel in a new historical fiction series from the popular bestselling author of FROM THE ASHES, for fans of Jackie French, Tea Cooper and Kirsty Manning
A dazzling new series from bestselling historical fiction author Deborah Challinor, exploring the fascinating world of Victorian funeral customs and featuring Sydney's first female undertaker. 'Men have been undertakers for hundreds of years. Not women, men. You don't belong.' Sydney, 1865. Seventeen-year-old Tatiana Caldwell travels from London to make a new life. Her path leads her to Crowe Funeral Services, where she apprentices under the tutelage of Titus Crowe, the enigmatic owner. Tatty finds herself drawn to the fascinating conventions of the funeral trade - plumed horses and processions, mutes and mortuary trains, flowers and finery - as well as the more visceral new practice of embalming. Soon she marries, and after the sudden death of her husband, Titus, she becomes Sydney's first female undertaker. Her hard-won stability is shattered when Elias Nuttall, a ruthless rival in the funeral trade, accuses Tatty of murdering her husband. Facing public scorn and legal peril, Tatty gathers an unlikely band of allies in a battle to clear her name. Black Silk and Sympathy is a riveting and realistic journey through the front parlours and dark alleys of 1860s Sydney, from the Botanic Gardens in the morning to the cemetery at midnight. 'In this expertly crafted novel, Challinor delivers a captivating tale of resilience, reinvention and determination ... [with] a thrilling twist' Books+Publishing Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'A master storyteller' Better Reading 'Perfectly blends fact and fiction' NZ Herald
Rowie's pro-war, her sister Jo's a protester. And they're both in Vietnam. The compelling new novel from the bestselling author of From the Ashes In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam war, nurse Rowie Leonard is serving a 12-month tour of duty. She supports the war and is committed to caring for wounded New Zealand and Australian troops. After a few months, however, she realises that nothing at all about the conflict is as clear-cut as she'd assumed. Her younger sister, Jo, is the opposite - a student at Auckland University, a folk singer and a fervent anti-war protestor. But when Jo falls for professional soldier Sam Apanui, home on leave to visit his ill father, she finds herself torn between her feelings and her convictions. As the three of them grapple with love, loss, and the stresses and sorrows of war, each will be forced to confront and question everything they believed. Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'Challinor is a good storyteller ... seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn' Bookseller and Publisher 'The perfect blend of fact and fiction' NZ Herald
Here we are, fighting alongside the so-called mightiest nation on earth with all the firepower you could ask forjets, B52s, tanks, gunships, rockets, napalm, you name itand the VC are creeping around with a rifle each and we still can't beat the buggers! And it's getting worse, not better. It's 1969. The sixties are still swinging, man is headed for the moon and surfing-mad Davey is out to win the inaugural Newcastle Under-14 Surf Championship. But when his older brother Tom is drafted to fight in the army, the far-away war in Vietnam creates waves very close to home.
This is a mind bending, uplifting, transformation of, a cold seeming past, to the overturning into a beautiful new world where the past is atoned. The cruel struggles of the memories in the book only lead down a more, even yet, cruel undecided fate, which could become her last moments. Though, no time is to spare, in finding the whereabouts of her location in her abduction, she struggles forth. Forgetting herself, learning a path she never thought was possible, she finds her way through the darkness, being accompanied among the lost.
I have been writing since I was 13 years old. It started for me as a means to express my thoughts, while at the same time being able to keep my thoughts to myself. For me, writing is something that must come through inspiration. It takes me to a place outside of myself. At any point in time, a thought, an idea or even a single word comes to mind and the poetry envelopes itself around it. The concept may take a minute to create, or it could take an hour or moreit all depends upon how strong the thought or the idea may be. A force so strong within me says write, and so I write. Then, the work takes on a life all its own. Twenty years ago, I looked ahead and I saw an entirely different future for me. It is truly surreal to me--because I was looking at my situation at a different in my life and I could not see beyond those circumstances. This book is intended to inspire others to trust in a power beyond the realms of what they may see at the moment because they are not looking at an accurate picture of their future. Dare to dream--to believe that all things are possible to them that believe--to believe in themselvesnot because of, but in spite of circumstances--to view different perspectives. No one knows what the future holds for them. They can only imagine. I encourage you to find that inner spirit then trust that higher power, dare to dream and believe it will come to fruition. The journey towards finding that inner peace is a long oneone that people search for throughout their lifetime. Tamar Deborah
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