The Reef (53 page)

Di Morrissey
Barra Creek

In the wild Gulf country of northwestern Queensland, there's a cattle station – Barra Creek – on a tributary of the crocodile-infested Norman River.

It's 1963 and Sally Mitchell, the well-bred daughter of a wealthy New Zealand sheep farmer, is on her way to England with her friend Pru. When the young women stop over in Sydney their plans go awry. Sally impulsively takes a job as a governess at Barra Creek, and when the mail plane that flew her there takes off she finds herself left in a different world. One dominated by the overpowering John Monroe and his strict and proper wife Lorna.

Here Sally's life changes forever. The challenges of coping with her three young charges, wild stockmen, the heat and the Wet, brumby musters and cattle rushes all pale beside a great passion, a great loss and a gruesome death.

Only Lorna knows the truth of the death and of a terrible injustice. Now, in 2003, she searches for the former governess to finally set things right and share her horrific secret.

Di Morrissey
Kimberley Sun

The remote town of Broome, the desert and the Kimberley coast – Australia's last frontier and a land of ancient beauty – are the backdrop for
Kimberley Sun,
the sequel to Di Morrissey's international bestseller,
Tears of the Moon.

Lily Barton, now 53, is beautiful, adventurous and looking for a life change. Sami, her daughter, is driving alone through the outback to finally, reluctantly confront her family roots. Together they are swept into a world where myths and reality converge, as they find that everyone they meet has a story to tell. From Farouz, the son of an Afghan camel driver, Bobby, the Chinese-Aboriginal man who is tangled up in the murder of a German tourist, to Biddy, the survivor from Captain Tyndall and Olivia's era . . . and who is the mysterious artist hiding in the desert?

All have a secret and a story to share as each finds their place under the Kimberley sun . . .

Di Morrissey
The Bay

The Bay is a peaceful town on the Australian east coast; a melting pot of city escapees, alternative lifestylers, lost souls, and men and women in search of a new sense of identity.

When Sydney corporate wife Holy Jamieson turns forty-five she shocks her husband by buying an old house in The Bay with plans to transform it into a B & B. This gesture of independence soon changes her life. The Bay was once a whaling town, then a sleepy resort that became trendy, and now developers are moving in for the kill. Holly, her family, and an unusual band of friends are in the battle lines – and not always on the same side.

The Bay
captures the atmosphere of a unique place and its people so you can feel that you are there.

Di Morrissey
Blaze

BLAZE exposes the new order of women and power in the cutthroat arena of up-market magazines. The idealistic baby boomers have been pushed aside and it's every woman for herself.

Ali Gruber, 28, is slick, smart, ambitious. She is determined to be editor of the New York edition of BLAZE, the world's most popular magazine. But fate intervenes, taking her back to the secret of her Australian childhood.

Nina Jansous, 60, is the founder of BLAZE. Croatianborn and Australian-raised, the elegant Nina is haunted by memories of the past.

Larissa Kelly, 35, has everything – a prestigious career and a loving man. But can the relationship survive when he's a stockbroker in Greenwich Village and she's been posted to BLAZE'S new magazine in Sydney.

Miche Bannister, 22, wants to be a journalist and follow in her late mother's footsteps. In Paris, Miche infiltrates the life of supermodel Jessica Shaw and finds a murky world of drugs and sexual abuse. Should she reveal what she uncovers when faced with her mother's nemesis?

BLAZE is an intimate look at four women coping with their private and public lives in the world of magazines.

Absorbing. Biting. Funny. Real.

Di Morrissey
Scatter the Stars

A mesmerising novel of the film industry and one man's life that charts a path for all of us.

Larrikin Australian actor Randy Storm had it all. Swept up by Hollywood in the 1950s he had the looks, charm and talent to take on the world. But by the 1990s he's forgotten, burned out after a life of movie star excess.

When producer Michael Matthews meets the once great Randy Storm, he is surprised to find a man who is at peace with himself. Both he and researcher Janie Callendar set out to discover the source of this inner peace. Meanwhile his agent Ariel Margoles finds out that Australia's world acclaimed film director Patricia Jordan is making the hottest Hollywood film of the year and she sees a chance for Randy to be a star once more.

But just as Randy is about to reach his pinnacle, a secret from his past threatens to bring down his greatest triumph . . .