Excerpt from speech given at Call of the Kookaburra Book Launch on the 24th February 2024.
‘When I came to the end of A Shining Path I knew the story could not finish there. There had to be a third and final book to complete the tale of the three convict women, Louise, Peggy and Lucy, transported to Australia. There was no getting away from it so I embarked on Call of the Kookaburra about this time last year. I had only reached chapter 11 when I went to England for some weeks. While I was there I learned I have found sometimes that the characters take on a life of their own and dictate the course of events. The original characters, Louise, Peggy and Lucy all play an important part in this book, but Jane Bell a school teacher takes centre stage and we see events through her eyes. In fact, the title is inspired by her love of Australia and her desire to return to that vast empty land which is epitomised in the mocking laughter of the kookaburra.
While I was staying in London I heard that a neighbour of mine in Wimbledon had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and was not expected to live. She was Australian although she had spent many years in London. She told me she had read all my books, so when I got home I determined I would get this one finished and dedicate it to her. Sadly she died before the book was published but at least her relatives in Australia will have a copy with a dedication that is a memorial to Lesley.
As an interesting postscript, I was at a meeting recently, organised by Hansa Naran QSM of Clarks Beach, celebrating International Womens’ Day and happened to be chatting to a prison officer. She began telling me she had read a book about a 19th century prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry. I soon realised she was talking about my book, Beyond the Horizon. One thing led to another and she asked if I would be interested in helping women prisoners with their writing. The result is I am now a volunteer at one of the correction centres for women. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”