In the explosive times of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the celebrated Australian author Amy McGrath tells how three women – a French countess, an English convict, and an Irish Quaker – play out their loves, lost and found, in the tiny colony of Sydney in faraway Australia.
This is the theme of the book, Satan's Kingdom, which is to be launched on Monday, 28 September. ( Details below)
Jenny and Isobel, two women leading completely different lives, succumb to their circumstances as laws, arranged marriages, and harsh economies dictate their lives. Jenny must come to terms with an unfair and harsh punishment as a judge sentences her to death.
Isobel must manoeuvre her way through her own strength and the men who desire political power. Together, as free settlers west of Sydney, they suffer French plots, Irish uprisings, attacks by deranged convicts, and extortion from the NSW Corps, led by ex-Captain John Macarthur.
Will they find the peace they seek at last, inspired by Governor Bligh's stubborn resistance to imprisonment and contempt during two years of republican chaos?
Dr.Amy McGrath is a remarkably prolific author whose books cover a very wide field indeed – poetry, electoral politics; two epic novels; and four books on gluten-free eating. Her work on democratic governance and honest elections has been formidable and the Australian people are indebted to her for her vigilance and persistance about these crucial matters. And as Leonard Ward observed in the Canberra Times about her book "Opium Lords", she is "a born storyteller."
The book is available from Amazon, Dorrance Publishing Company Inc, Abbeys,and on order through all good bookshops. Copies signed by the author will be available at the launch.
….Launch details…
IN: The Threatrette, Parliament House , Macquarie Street ,Sydney
AT: 1200pm to 200pm
ON: Monday 28 September 2009