She needed a regional Australian setting, a “horsey” town and somewhere she knew well for her novel, so Tamworth it was for author Rosie Mackenzie.
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Mackenzie has just launched her book Homestead on the River, described as “an unforgettable tale of love, loss and betrayal from an exciting new Australian voice in historical fiction”.
Tamworth is named as the main setting, and Tamworth it will be for a book talk and signing at Collins Booksellers at 10am on Saturday.
The city is a secondary home of sorts for someone who lives half the year almost literally wherever the wind takes her.
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Mackenzie’s link to Tamworth is her sister Gill Rosewarne, who has lived here for about 40 years.
The sisters, their three other siblings and their parents had immigrated from Ireland in the 1950s – a path reflected in the novel.
Armidale also features, with one of the characters studying at the university there.
‘Family secrets follow them’
“It’s a family saga following the O’Sullivans, who lose everything in Ireland and embark on a journey to Australia to start afresh,” Mackenzie said.
“They don’t choose the area but … they’re delighted when they get there – but family secrets follow them.”
The novel is a work of fiction and the similarities are few, but Mackenzie said her family also had an “interesting time”.
“Due to the financial crisis in Ireland at the time, we ended up leaving a lovely Georgian mansion to run a little post office on the other side of Braidwood,” she said.
The novel spans several years up to 1970.
Mackenzie said her research on Tamworth had included web resources, recollections of residents of the time, and her own observations from when she first visited at the start of that decade.
Mackenzie is a pen name, adopted for her historical fiction as a tribute to her late mother.
As Rosie Peterswald and with husband Rob, she has also published five photographic coffee-table books on sailing, seafood and wine.
They know their stuff: they spend several months of the year sailing somewhere in the world.
Mackenzie said that, with her sister and brother-in-law Colin heavily involved in the local Riding for the Disabled, any profits from book sales on the day would go to the branch.
Carolyn Millet
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
