Writing as Tamara McKinley
Oceana Series
Lands Beyond the Sea
By the 1700s, the Aborigine people have lived in harmony with the land in Australia for sixty thousand years. But now, ghost-ships are arriving, their very existence is threatened by a terrifying white invasion.
When Jonathan Cadwallader leaves Cornwall to sail on the Endeavour, he leaves behind his sweetheart, Susan Penhalligan . . . That is, until an act of brutality reunites them in the raw and unforgiving penal colony of New South Wales.
Billy Penhalligan has survived transportation and clings to the promise of a new beginning. But there will be more suffering before he or his fellow convicts can regard Australia as home . . . . A sweeping tale of discovery, love and hardship in the sixteenth century which will bring emergent Australia and all its inhabitants – new and old – to life.
A Kingdom for the Brave
How far would you go for love? When George Collinson meets Eloise at the Governor’s mansion in Sydney, it is love at first sight. But Eloise is married to Edward Cadwallader George’s nemesis, and a man capable of great brutality. Family secrets threaten to overwhelm them, and as George and Eloise struggle to keep their love alive, other battles are raging. Pioneers jostling for land fight each other as well as the Aboriginal warriors, whose stone-age weapons are no match for the invaders guns. A rebellious Irish boy, who arrived in the colony in chains, becomes deeply involved in a revolutionary cause and two women struggle for survival and friendship in the unlikeliest of places.
Legacy
Is her love worth more than gold? Following in the pioneering footsteps of the women who have gone before her, Ruby and her new husband James brave a long and treacherous journey to start their new life together. However, they soon discover that there are many more dangers than just those that meet the eye. When James is tempted away by the gold rush, Ruby must join forces with the Aborigine girl Kumali and learn to adapt, if they’re going to survive. Meanwhile there are other new arrivals to Australian shores: a Tahitian with a mysterious past, a naïve young schoolmistress, and an English aristocrat, all unaware that their destinies are irrevocably intertwined. As fortunes are made and lives are lost, many secrets will be uncovered. But those torn apart by feuds, greed, hatred and circumstance, will ultimately find they have to unite under the same flag.
Other Books
Matilda’s Last Waltz
When tragedy strikes, Jenny craves a fresh start away from the memories of her past. So when she unexpectedly inherits a sheep station in the Australian Outback called Churinga, she welcomes the escape. But Churinga turns out to be a lonely place, where the weather is extreme and the neighbours hostile. As Jenny fights to take control of her new life, she discovers some surprising secrets about the station itself and its enigmatic previous owner – the mysterious Matilda – leading Jenny to wonder if inheriting the station has been a blessing or a curse.
Jacaranda Vines
Jacaranda Vines was once the greatest vineyard in Australia, but the death of its owner, Jock Witney, leaves the business in shambles. As the Witney family fight over the future of the winery, Jock’s young granddaughter Sophie makes a voyage of historical discovery through the Australian outback, hoping to learn more about her family’s past. Set between the 1830s and the modern day, Jacaranda Vines is an exploration of ancestral ties, bitter rivalries and the importance of sharing family history.
Windflowers
Claire’s greatest dream is to leave behind the quiet life at the cattle station where she grew up for the bright lights of swinging 1960s Sydney. But just when it seems it might finally become a reality, she’s summoned to a family reunion organised by her formidable Great Aunt Aurelia. Annoyed that she must again put her life on hold, Claire begrudgingly agrees, but what she discovers there could challenge everything she thought she knew about the station, her family, and even herself.
Summer Lightning
Miriam Strong has been looking forward to her family arriving at Bellbird Station to celebrate her seventy-fifth birthday, and she can’t imagine how anything could go wrong. But then questions are raised about a stolen inheritance, and everyone is surprised to discover that Miriam has hidden the existence of a dangerous personal enemy. Miriam’s granddaughters are drawn into the conflict, and a hero emerges in the person of Jake Connor, a high-minded lawyer determined to discover the truth. Summer Lightning is a feel-good family epic with a dark heart.
Undercurrents
1894. The SS Arcadia sets sail from Liverpool, carrying Eva and Frederick Hamilton – a young married couple determined to make a new start in an exciting new frontier: Australia. But as the ship nears its destination, it goes down in an unexpected storm. Years later, Olivia Hamilton makes the same journey, hoping to learn more about her mysterious origins. As Olivia draws closer to discovering the truth about her past, she realises that, like Eva Hamilton all those years ago, this could be a journey with unexpected consequences.
Dreamscapes
Catriona was born into the world of show business, having made her first appearance on stage in her father’s arms when she was only minutes old. And although life has never been easy for Catriona, it seems she’s finally made her big break: her unique voice has captured the attention of a Sydney opera company, and the only place to go is up. But when scandalous secrets from her teenage years threaten to destroy everything she’s worked so hard to achieve, she learns she will have to fight to keep her rightful place at the top.
Ocean Child
1920. Having disobeyed the wishes of her aristocratic family, Lulu Pearson, a young and talented Tasmanian sculptress, finds herself alone in London in the wake of the Great War. The future is looking bright until, on the eve of her first exhibition, Lulu learns she has inherited a racing colt called Ocean Child from a mysterious benefactor, and she must return to her homeland to claim him. Baffled by the news, Lulu boards a ship to Tasmania to uncover the truth behind the strange bequest, but it seems a welcome return is more than she can hope for. Unbeknownst to Lulu, more than a few fortunes ride on Ocean Child’s success – it seems everyone from her estranged mother to the stable hands has a part to play, and an interest in keeping the family secrets buried.
Firestorm
Becky Jackson’s family has been managing the hospital in far-flung Morgan’s Reach for three generations. When Becky’s husband is tragically lost at war, she and her young son Danny must leave the city and return to her birthplace to start over. But for all its charm, Morgan’s Reach is a divided community, where blood is thicker than water and grudges run deep. So when a mysterious stranger appears outside the town and Danny begins to act strangely, it is not only Becky’s newfound stability that’s threatened. And what of the fact that there’s not been a drop of rain in over three years? The risk of wildfire looms large and the hospital is already pushed to breaking point. A single spark could level the area in minutes – burning away everything for which the town has worked so hard; exposing the secrets they’ve fought to keep so close.
Savannah Winds
When Fleur receives word of a surprise inheritance from an aunt she never knew, it couldn’t come at a more opportune moment. Her relationship is crumbling, and she’s caught in the middle of a serious family rift.
Consulting her aunt’s long-lost diary, Fleur sets out on a voyage of historical discovery up the coast and through the Gulf Country, to the isolated cattle ranch Savannah Winds. But unbeknownst to Fleur, what she uncovers there could have devastating repercussions for her own life. Set between the 1930s and the modern day, Savannah Winds is an exploration of family ties, bitter rivalry and the strength of enduring love.
Echoes from Afar
So this is Paris, she thought in awe. Spread out before her beneath a clear blue sky, it was like a precious gift after the smog and filth of London. No wonder it was called the city of love . . . After a spiteful rumour ruins her career in London, Annabelle Blake must travel to Paris to start afresh. There she makes the acquaintance of Etienne and Henri – one a poet, the other a painter – both charming, talented and handsome. They spend their days flirting and drinking with the city’s artistes and Bohemians, and soon Annabelle too is swept up in the exotic and exhilarating world of 1930s Paris. But as ever more young people are drawn to the fight against Fascism in Spain, Annabelle must wake from the dream and confront the reality of war. A lifetime later, gifted artist Eugenie Ashton falls in love with Paris the moment she sets foot outside the Gare de Lyon. Like her mother Annabelle before her, the artistic delights of the city are a bright new world to her: but Eugenie will soon find that in its shadows are hidden the secrets of her family’s past.
Spindrift
1905. Christy has always dreamed of making the journey from her home in Tasmania back to the wild and beautiful Scottish island where she was born – the Isle of Skye, nicknamed ‘cloud island’ by the Old Norse people – to once again lay eyes on the tumbling waterfalls and dramatic coastlines of her homeland. And now, in her sixty-fifth year, Christy has finally decided to go, her mistrustful daughter Anne and beloved granddaughter Kathryn acting as companions. But what Anne and Kathryn don’t realise is that Christy’s past is darker and more textured than they could know, and that in returning to Skye they will unearth bittersweet memories long-buried – memories that will ultimately change the course of the three women’s lives forever.