Susan Shapcott

All Moonshine Susan Shapcott

Publisher Marketing: 'All Moonshine' is a journey through time and history, made by a young girl with a strong sense of her ancestry rooted in a love of the sea and in God's purpose for their lives. As the story unfolds the characters develop enabling us to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. It is about a family who are shaped by great tragedy, cruel hardship, intrigue and Victorian snobbery. Martha Moon's husband and his brother are Master Mariners who loose their lives at sea leaving their wives to provide for their children. When Martha's only son then dies tragically of a deadly disease in Australia, her daughters are left to make the most of their poverty with dignity and the 'hope' of a lost legacy. Matilda, Martha's eldest daughter struggles to bring up nine children with little help from her husband and it is then left to Minnie, her eldest daughter to try to regain lost ground. A feisty character, Minnie is ready to uphold the poor and needy and the rights of both women and children. She surprises everyone by marrying against her principles and looses her home twice to fire, at the same time loosing any hope of motherhood or personal fulfilment; but inspired by her grandmother, she keeps her faith in God and lives to be over a hundred years old. Her brother's daughter, Sabina is the one remaining descendent of the 'Moon" family in England. She has an uncertain future and poor health, but Min sees to it that she will inherit what is left of their legacy, and together they discover that it is 'All Moonshine'.