Description

An historical fiction novel that paints a vivid picture of life in the coal mining villages of Scotland in the early 1900s, and leads to life in the coal mines of Australia in the 1950s. FAR ACROSS THE SEA is a family saga that begins in Scotland in 1913, progresses through two world wars and follows a young man who takes up the offer of assisted passage to Australia as part of the Australian government's 'Populate or Perish' campaign after the second world war.One of the characters in the book joins the army in WWI to get away from the mines, only to find himself digging underground in France. Years after WWII had finished, food and clothing were still being rationed in Scotland, few people could afford to buy their own home and unemployment was high. When Australia put out the call for young men and families to populate its shores, with the lure of high employment and sunshine instead of rain and snow, many people took up the call.The hero of the novel, Willie, finds himself in Ipswich, Australia to work in the coal mines. The story is based on the author's own family history and is the sequel to her debut novel 'Ours, Yours and Mines' which took readers to the mid-1800s in the mines in Scotland, and described the heartbreak of families who lost loved ones to accidents and miner's lung, as well as tuberculosis.You don't need to have read the first novel to enjoy FAR ACROSS THE SEA. Even though it's a sequel, it's a stand-alone story with which many people will identify.The book has been dedicated to all the people who took up the challenges that they faced in their new country, adapted, worked hard and reaped the rewards of their toil, and also to the men and women who fought in WWI and WWII to keep us safe.