Wednesday, June 27, 2012




Author Blog Challenge #26:

What is/will be the subject of your next book?

I have two books I am working on at the moment – a family history and a novel. No bets for picking which one will finish first.

The family history follows the maternal line of my husband’s family for four generations beginning with the convict ancestry of his great great grandparents Bridget O’Neil and Hugh Holmyard. Bridget was only 15 years of age when transported from Glasgow in 1843 and Hugh 17, when transported from England in 1841, both having been convicted of minor theft. As with his father’s family history, I have encountered the mysteries of forebears, seemingly orphaned to hide a more shameful parentage, anomalies in the spelling of surnames, and red herrings that make family research such an interesting adventure.

The novel I am working on has a working title of Anika Leugenaar – The Dutch Housewife, the story of a woman who believes that as long as she denies the truth, she can get away with anything. It follows her life from a young girl through to older age, her adventures, or misadventures, exposed to the reader even as she lies her way to respectability. A story with psychological undertones of delusion and manipulation, of lessons presented yet never learnt, and an unhappy woman striving for acceptance on false premise.  

~ Merlene Fawdry

4 comments:

  1. Both of those stories sound intriguing, Merlene - but your husband's ancestry would be my first choice (if I had a say, that is). Best of luck with them!

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  2. They both sound really interesting :) I agree with Marcie, your husband's family story sounds fascinating, I love Australian history.

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  3. While I agree with Melissa and Marcie, I reckon the novel will be finished first, because the research into a family tree as diverse as those with convict histories are enormous.Both sound like an interesting read.

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  4. The novel sounds really interesting, Merlene. So much scope for great story lines and 'adventures'.

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For some reason I'm yet to fathom I'm unable to reply to comments left by others so thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read and comment. Merlene