The Old Balmain House
About this ebook
A photo of 8 year old Sophie and an antique perfume bottle are found in the fireplace of an old house.
The story of a Balmain family over 170 years. Finally they uncover what happened.
Set around beautiful Sydney Harbour this is a story of this place and its people, an imagined history from early Australia to the present day.
Who was Sophie and what happened to her?
On buying an old weatherboard house in Balmain, Sydney, we discover her photo, dated 1900-1908, long hidden, along with a small perfume bottle in an old fireplace. Then we discover that Sophie disappeared with a childhood friend in 1908 and was never seem again, leaving a trail of sadness through generations of her family.
This book tracks the journey of the discovery of Sophie and her family, from their first arrival in Sydney, over five generations of the family, until the mystery is finally laid to rest.
It is a story of loss and grief, mixed with joy, which passes through the successive generations of a family. The way the family deals with unresolved tragedy and finally the the way their love transcends time is the story from which the real Sophie emerges.
Graham Wilson, the author, lived in the house in Balmain around which this story is based for seven years, before moving to Millers Point. This is his first novel.
Graham has previously written a family memoir, “Children of Arnhem’s Kaleidoscope” which describes his childhood, growing up in a aboriginal community in Western Arnhem Land. This is also available from this site.
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About the author
The first, a novel called "The Old Balmain House" is based on an old a weatherboard cottage in Sydney where he lived. Here a photo was discovered of a small girl who lived and died about 100 years ago.
The book imagines the story of her life and family, based in the real Balmain, an early inner Sydney suburb, with it's real locatons and and historical events providing part of the story background..
The second novel in this series, Lizzie's Tale" builds on "The Old Balmain House" setting, It is the story of a working class teenage girl who lives in this same house in the 1950s and 1960s, It tells of how, when she becomes pregnant she is determined not to surrender her baby for adoption, and of her struggle to survive in this unforgiving society. A third novel in this series is planned for NaNoWriMo, following the next generation of the family in Lizzie'sTale.
Graham has also written a family memoir "Children of Arnhem's Kaleidoscope." It tells of his childhood in an aboriginal community in remote Arnhem Land, in Australia's Northern Territory, one of its last frontiers. It tells of the people, danger and beauty of this place, and of its transformation over the last half century with the coming of aboriginal rights and the discovery or uranium. It also tells of his surviving an attack by a large crocodile.
He has also written the first three of a series of five novels based in Outback Australia, called the Crocodile Spirit Dreaming Series. The first novel "Just Visiting." tells the story of an English backpacker who visits the Northern Territory and becomes captivated and in great danger from a man who loves crocodiles. The second book in the series, "The Diary" follows the consequences of the first book based around the discovery of this man's remains and his diary and the main character being placed on trial for murder. The third book, "The Empty Place" is about the struggle of the main character to retain her sanity in jail while her family and friends desperately try to find out what really happened on that fateful day before it is too late. Two further books in 2015 will conclude this series, "The Lost Girls" and "Where Sunlit Shadows Dance."
Graham is in the early stages of planning a memoir about his family's connections with Ireland called "Memories Only Remain"
Graham writes mostly for the creative pleasure it brings him. He is particularly gratified each time an unknown person chooses to download and read something he has written and write a review - good or bad, as this gives him an insight into what readers enjoy and helps him make ongoing improvements to his writing.
In his non writing life he is a wildlife veterinarian working with zoo animals and on national parks.
