Lori T Hurst

A Hint of Darkness Lori T Hurst

Compelling Australian, Historical/contemporary fiction, parallels the lives of the two strong female protagonists. Emmaline Gidley-King & her beloved papa share an affinity with the land. Papa alters his will, Emmaline & not her brother Thomas will inherit the thriving family vineyard Chateau Fontenay, in the Yarra Valley. His decision sets in motion a chain of events that will alter the course of Emmaline's life. Strong willed & self-assured she has been raised in an atmosphere of affluence. Papa's sudden death, her mother's vicious betrayal & Emmaline is cast into a world of tragedy & terror. The year is 1874; in northern Australia gold fever is pandemic. Thousands of miners flock to the isolated Palmer River gold fields seeking their fortunes. A victim of the ensuing chaos, fourteen-year-old Emmaline is left to fend for herself in the vast North Queensland wilderness. Through the long, lonely days, she senses Papa's presence watching over her. Her will to survive is strengthened by her determination to one-day extract retribution on her mother. Generations on, Ellie Jamieson's fight for survival is internal & revolves around her damaged self-image. Her acerbic wit is a façade. She too has been cursed with a self- interested and unfeeling mother. The loss of her job and her cheating boyfriend in one day is too much. She flees to her grandmother in Queensland, where amidst a great emotional upheaval, the family's well-hidden secret is revealed. Uncovering the past raises previously unrecognised issues, setting Ellie on a new path. Her perceptions of self gradually change. She is a journalist & as she develops her newfound awareness she writes insightful articles for The Australian, exploring the influence of artificially constructed norms on modern women.