Tag Archives: hidden history Australia

The Proxy Bride sneaks onto bestseller list…

The Proxy Bride has snuck into no.9 on the bestseller list for Top 10 Historical Fiction! A huge, heartfelt thank you to all of you for supporting my first novel. I’m very grateful. The list came out in The Weekend Australian and it’s such a privilege to be among these established and talented authors. It’s still sinking in to be honest! (I’ve been worried it might’ve been too much of a risk switching from non-fiction to fiction for this book.)

Also, since I mentioned in my last post that Nanna Francesca would’ve been especially happy to see, The Proxy Bride in the Australian Women’s Weekly, I thought I should mention the same might’ve been for Nonno Anni regarding a recent article about my books appearing in the Italian Australian newspapers, Il Globo and La Fiamma (full article in Italian online). I have lovely memories of him at the kitchen table often reading one of these newspapers with a morning coffee (International Roast boiled on the stove in the enamel pot, of course!)

I have to say too that seeing, The Proxy Bride on the same page as a Patricia Cornwall book reminded me of a time, almost thirty years ago, when I dreamt of having a book published. I was working during the day as a clerk doing mainly filing and data entry while also waitressing several nights in a Chinese restaurant and on other nights trying to write (when I wasn’t exhausted!) One lunch hour, I popped out to buy a book to read on the train home and someone had recommended Patricia Cornwall. When I think of the different jobs I’ve had over the years and all the types of writing I’ve done to this point, I definitely don’t take any part of this for granted. Thank you again for embracing these stories. I appreciate it very much! Zoë xx

The Proxy Bride

4 Comments

Filed under books + writing

The Proxy Bride – new book coming

Four months until, The Proxy Bride is out and the book cover has landed at my desk. It’s always interesting to see what the publisher creates for a cover and even though this is book three, each time it still feels astonishing to see my name on the front!

For this book it’s been an honour to write about a part of our hidden history – the courageous women who married by proxy and travelled to the other side of the world to husbands they’d mostly never met. And also of the Italian wives left behind on farms in Australia after their husbands were interned during WW2 and how these women banded together to survive against tough odds and much hostility towards them at the time.

Not least, it’s also about Nonnas and granddaughters in the 1980s when those stories and secrets from the past began to emerge and cultures clashed along with old Italian traditions and Australian life. Of course, while it’s a novel, so much of this book is inspired by true happenings, family stories and even a bit of my own experience as a teenager in the ’80s. Looking forward to sharing it with you! Zoë xx

8 Comments

Filed under books + writing