FIRST NOVEL OF THE COLOURED SANDS TRILOGY

This is the story of Emily, set in the Roma/Mitchell area of Queensland. The Outback Historical Saga is in essence a biography of an extraordinary woman's life (partly based on truth). The novel begins with Emily's critical awakening-by-crisis, (the massacre of her family) in the late nineteenth century, and ends with the words on her dying breath seventy years later. The unique characters in this extraordinary novel, set on a huge and wonderful canvas begins with the pioneering woman Mary who gives love to the little girl’s tormented soul.

Although struck dumb by the trauma, she lives happily with the family and their six children. Later after a tragic event, Emily regains her speech. She is adopted by a famous doctor and his wife and has a privileged lifestyle as they guide her through her education in urban Sydney in the early 1900’s. Emily chooses a Country Gentleman for her husband, heir to the great Jooloonga Cattle Station. The deep-dark secret (from her first passionate love affair) is a powerful tool that could shatter an esteemed country family. The author is unrelenting in her exhaustive efforts for true historical facts, enriched by the beauty of the Australian bush she knows so well.

This lyrical novel with twists and turns of the heart plumbs the depths and sings the heights of human endeavour, covering three generations. It captures the heart of a family through the two world wars and the great depression. The joining of mixed cultures unravels into an amazingly profound love story. The title, Coloured Sands, is, in fact a metaphor for the underlying theme of the whole book: the idea that blending race and background will ultimately create a more peaceful society. This is a story that tugs at the heartstrings with an ending to sting your senses. Barbara won an Australia Day Cultural Prize for this novel (pictured above left).