My first novel, Wilful Murder – it’s not available for sale as the ending has not been written. 

A young ambitious woman born of convict parents, with a difficult upbringing, wants to belong in the small town where she lives. Being falsely indicted for murdering her newborn baby, Ann returns from twelve months in prison to the same small town, River Don, where her controlling husband still lives. She faces the prejudice of the town and is hindered by the indifference and drunkenness of her husband. As she struggles to gain financial independence and belonging in the community, her guilt prevents her from asking for help from her brother, Charlie. Though when Ann finally takes her future into her own hands, her fortunes improve. The return of her long-lost brother Henry, from the Victorian goldfields, also sets in motion change that bring Ann’s family together. Despite social expectations of 1860s Tasmania, she teaches herself to read and write and demonstrates her capabilities working in the store. Ann persists and manages to attract the admiration of Mr Thomas Sullock who has arrived from the goldfields with Henry. Despite her families continued poverty and lawlessness and Thomas’ families dislike of Australian’s, believing them all to be tainted by their convict past, she and Thomas marry and establish a hotel, store and generous home in Penguin Creek.

This biographical fiction will appeal to fans of historical fiction, women, Tasmanian’s and those interested in the pioneering era of the 1860-90s.