The Journey of Emmaline

A Hint of Darkness. concludes Captivating Australian Historical/Contemporary fiction parallels the lives of the two irrepressible female protagonists born in different centuries. Emmaline Gidley-King is beautiful, unconventional & refuses to be cowed by Victorian standards. Set to inherit the thriving Yarra Valley Vineyard Chateau Fontenay, she is fourteen when Papa's untimely death sets in motion an unforeseen chain of events. A brutal act committed against her, her mother's appalling betrayal, cast out of her home, young Emmaline is set adrift. In 1874 far north Queensland is in the grip of gold fever. Witness to a tragedy on the Palmer River Track Emmaline survives months alone in the largely unexplored wilderness, eventually attaching herself to an Aboriginal tribe in Princess Charlotte Bay. Years later she returns to Cooktown homeless, penniless & pregnant with a mixed-race child. She finds shelter, acceptace & happiness at Maggie's Place. Cast down to the lowest rung of society, unperturbed she lives her life according to her own moral dictates. She has her daughter Lilli & love & contentment in her new life. Only one thing mars her happiness. The memory of her mother's betrayal & knowing there is no means of gaining retribution. Generations on, Ellie Jamieson is still emerging from her self-constructed shell. Ellie harbours a warped self-image courtesy of her mother & her cheating boyfriend. When her grandmother Ruthie's true family background is revealed Ellie goes in search of her heritage & is bequeathed Emmaline's journals written for Lilli. Emmaline's voice from the past provides Ellie with a vastly different perspective. Each of us must be responsible for our own destiny.