ACRBA Tour Beyond the Fight by Carol Preston

3 - 7 October 2016

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is Introducing

Beyond the Fight

( Rhiza Press, 1 April 2016)

By Carol Preston

About the Book:

Percy Smith has always wondered why he didn’t identify with his father, but he never expected the revelation about his past that comes at the beginning of the First World War. In shock and pain he finds himself in a place far from home, where he meets Mabel Smart, a young woman who is also struggling to find her own identity in her family.

Both Percy and Mabel must confront the issues raised by the war; internment of German born Australians, the push for conscription, the rush of young men to fight on the battlefields of Europe, and divisions in the Australian population over enlistment.

Ultimately Percy and Mabel’s search will be about finding a way to be at peace with their families.

About the Author:

Carol lives with her husband, Neil, in Wollongong, New South Wales. After their two children, Tammy and Adam, started school, Carol returned to study and completed a PhD at Wollongong University in 1986.

She is now a Psychologist in private practice. Carol enjoys gardening, bushwalking, spending time with her family and researching her family history. Her novels are based on her Australian ancestory. Carol's books in her Turning the Tide series published by Even Before Publishing include Mary's Guardian, Charlotte's Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free.

Carol is also the author of Suzannah's Gold and Rebecca's Dream. Her first book with Rhiza Press is Next of Kin.

For more information about Carol's books and her other interests she can be contacted on her website: www.carolpreston.com.au

ACRBA Tour Next of Kin by Carol Preston

7 - 11 February

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Next of Kin
(Rhiza Press, May 2015)

Carol Preston

About the Book:

Fanny Franks was raised to believe in honesty, equality and acceptance, regardless of background or circumstances. When she meets brothers Jack and Jim, she is drawm to them by the alienation and injustice which seems to pervade their lives. She is determined to intervene and help them find happiness, until a trauma in her own life brings discrimination and shame for which she is ill prepared. While she deals with her own struggle she comes to understand what Jim and Jack are going through - and they find where they truly belong.

About the Author

Carol lives in Wollongong with her husband, Neil. She is a psychologist and has a part time private counselling practice, as well as being an author and speaker. Carol enjoys spending time with her children and four grandchildren, as well as bushwalking, gardening and holidaying overseas with her husband. One of her hobbies over many years has been family history research. 

It was this research which started Carol on the journey of writing novels. Her first trilogy is about the Oakes Family; Suzannah’s Gold, Rebecca’s Dream and The Price of Peace, which takes the reader from 1838 when her great great grandmother, Suzannah Casey was transported from Ireland, through to the end of the First World War. Carol’s fourth novel, The Face of Forgiveness, is about two young women who are transported to Australia in 1839. 

Carol has also written the Turning the Tide Series, based on her mother’s family, which begins with the First Fleet of convicts to Australia in 1788. These include Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets, and Truly Free. Next of Kin is her ninth novel. For more information about Carol’s books and her other interests she can be contacted on her website: www.carolpreston.com.au, on her Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/writingtoreach 
or her Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

ACFBA Tour Rebecca's Dream by Carol Preston

1st - 5th September 2014

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

Is Introducing

Rebecca's Dream

(Even Before March 2014)

By

Carol Preston

About the Book

Rebecca Oakes is thirteen years old when her mother, Suzannah, dies in the small town of Marengo, New South Wales, in 1873. With her older brother and sisters soon involved in their own lives, Rebecca is left alone to care for her ageing father. But Rebecca has a dream for her own life. She wants to make a difference to the world around her; a world where it is hardly possible for a woman to get an education, where women have no rights, no vote, no voice. Rebecca will have to fight the systems of her time if she is to achieve her goals. She must find the courage to stand against sexual and religious prejudice, and resist the pressures of even those close to her, in order to make her way towards her dream, influenced by one man who hates her, who will do anything to thwart her plans, and another man who loves her, and will do anything to make her happy.

Rebecca’s Dream is the second book in the Oakes Family Saga. Background notes and discussion questions are available for book clubs.

About the Author

Carol lives in Wollongong with her husband, Neil. She is a psychologist and has a part time private counselling practice, as well as being an author and speaker. Carol enjoys spending time with her children and four grandchildren, as well as bushwalking, gardening and holidaying overseas with her husband. One of her hobbies over many years has been family history research. It was this research which started Carol on the journey of writing novels.

Her first trilogy is about the Oakes Family; Suzannah’s Gold, Rebecca’s Dream and The Price of Peace, which takes the reader from 1838 when her great great grandmother, Suzannah Casey was transported from Ireland, through to the end of the First World War when Suzannah’s children and grandchildren are involved in the battle, not only to survive the war but to survive the waiting at home. The first two of these have recently been re-released by EBP. Carol’s fourth novel, The Face of Forgiveness, is about two young women who are transported to Australia in 1839. The most recent of Carol’s novel is a series based on her mother’s family, which begins with the First Fleet of convicts to Australia. These include Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets, and Truly Free.

For more information about Carol’s books and her other interests she can be contacted on her website: www.carolpreston.com.au, on her Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

or her Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

ACRBA Tour Tangled Secrets by Carol Preston with review

4 - 8 March

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Tangled Secrets 

(Even Before Publishing Sept 2012)

by 

Carol Preston 

Available at Amazon for $1.99 for the month of March

About the Author

Carol lives in Wollongong, NSW with her husband, Neil. As well as writing novels based on her family history, Carol has a private counselling practice and enjoys reading, gardening, spending time with her four grandchildren and bushwalking. She has pursued with great admiration the lives of her ancestors in Australia and has greatly enjoyed writing novels based on their stories and the inspiring history of the Australian people. For more information about Carol's books and her other interests she can be contacted on her website: www.carolpreston.com.au

About the book

In tragic circumstances Beth and her brothers are left in England to grow up without their parents. When Beth's childhood dream to be reunited with her father in Australia finally eventuates she finds that dreams do not always come true.The reality she faces is a tangled web of disappointment, deceit and mistakes. Further abandonment follows. Will she ever find true love? And will she discover she doesn't have to be alone before it is too late?Set in the early colonial days of New South Wales and based on real characters in the mid 1800s.Revisit Charlotte and Thomas from Charlotte's Angel and Mary's Guardian, and meet new characters in this new novel by Carol Preston. Mary's Guardian was a finalist in the fiction section of CALEB 2011.

My Review:
This is the third book in this series and we see more about the early days in Australia. This time we focus on Beth who has reunited with her father in Australia but it's not all she hoped. She ends up marrying and its not all she hoped for. While I enjoyed the story and the more I read the better it got I did find at times early it took a little longer to get into the story but as I continued the book got better and better. I have been trying to put a finger on what was different from Mary's Guardian and this book and realise it is the history, In the first book we learn a lot of the history of the time and learn historical facts where this book  has a little of the history but is more focused on the story. I think myself I miss the historical facts of the time.  I am looking forward to reading the last book in the series. Good read.

Book Review Suzannah's Gold by Carol Preston

Book Description:
Suzannah Casey was just twelve years old when she was transported to the Australian colony from Ireland . When given the opportunity to begin a new life on the Goulburn Plains with ex-convict George Oakes, she could never have imagined the trauma and loss that was ahead of her.

As she faces the harsh Australian land and the weaknesses of people around her, Suzannah must find within herself the strength and faith to not only survive but also rise above cruelty, disappointment, abandonment, illness, religious bigotry and finally her own yearnings in order to discover what is more precious than gold. 

Suzannah Casey and the other central characters in this story were real people. Many of the details of their lives and the experiences they lived through have been taken from historical records. 

The value of Suzannah’s life lives on in her descendants, all of whom have carried and will carry on the legacy of hope and faith which life taught her.


My Review:


Thanks to the publisher for my review copy. I had read Mary's two latest books and really enjoyed them, so was looking forward to reading this book. It didn't let me down. Suzannah has come to Australia as a convict and has an encounter with Caroline Chisholm which sees her in a better place than she may have been. She then ends up in Goulburn Plains where she meets George. We see the struggles of the early settlers in Australia and the hardships they faced from droughts to floods to bushfires. We also see the struggles of bringing up a family in the new land. There are also other issues dealing with race and religion which I found interesting. I love a book that also deals with facts and mentions real people such as Caroline Chisholm, it gives an insight of how the early Australians forged this great country.
I really enjoyed this book and if you want to learn more about Australia in the 1800's this is a book that will give you an insight into the era.

Book Review Charlotte's Angel by Carol Preston

Preston Carol
Release Date: 01 October 2011
Format: Paperback / softback
Pages: 204
Category: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Even Before Publishing
ISBN: 9781921633324

Product description:

A child growing up in uncontrollable and awkward circumstances, Charlotte Plumb must learn to strive for more than the legacy her mother leaves her. Thomas Douglass, is a strong, determined and caring young man. Rescuing Charlotte drives him on, but will they find love living as children of ex-convicts? With sadness and grief, joy and new birth, mystery, murder and romance the Douglass and Plumb families will intertwine over twenty years. Charlotte's Angel continues the Douglass family saga begun in the much-loved Mary's Guardian, set in the early colonial days of New South Wales.

My Review:

This is the sequel to Mary's Guardian and continues the story of the Douglass family. We see the family growing up and how it is to be the first generation born in Australia. The books starts with Daniel working in Pitt town and coming in contact with the Plumb family. Charlotte is a baby at this stage. The book shows her growing up and dealing with the situation she lives in. We see how the two seem to keep intertwine over the years. Thomas becomes Charlottes champion and takes it on himself to rescue her from her life. I loved Mary's Guardian and it is still in my top ten reads for the year and this book is just as good. Again the book mentions historical incidents and facts from the times and shows just how hard it was for the ex convicts and there families at the time. I loved Charlotte for her innocents and her sweet nature. There were times I would have loved to hit her mother to knock some sense into her as she tends to be quite self absorbed. Thomas is the hero I would love to have fighting for me. He wants to protect Charlotte and make her life easier he also wants to make sure she is safe. One think I love about this book is learning more about Australia's history. We often hear about the free settlers and the military. Most of us know about John Macarthur and how he introduced Merino sheep but most don't know about how the ex-convicts were treated. I am looking forward to more in this series. For my overseas readers if you want to learn about Australian history these books will give you an insight as to how Australia was founded. 

Getting to Know you Thursdays with Carol Preston

Please welcome to my blog today Carol Preston another Australian Author. Carol's latest book Mary's Guardian is in my top 5 reads for the year so far. 

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in New South Wales, Australia. I am a wife, mother, grandmother and psychologist, so my greatest interests are in people. I am also very involved in my local church, and my faith in God is a central part of who I am. I feel I have a very blessed and interesting life.    

2. When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

I don't think I was an avid reader as a child. I have no memory of particular books or stories that have stayed with me, apart from the Bible, which I started to read at about the age of ten. 

3. Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and right write?

I have come to love reading in my adult life, and my favourites are historical novels and stories about real people in real places. I love autobiographies. I write historical novels now, based on my family history in Australia. 

4. Did you have favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

My favourite authors growing up were authors of the books of the Bible

5. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

   After researching my family history in the 80s and 90s, I felt a strong urge to write the stories of my ancestors and the early Australians. I believed they were stories that ought to be told and learned from. I wanted my own children and grandchildren to know about their ancestors and what it has taken to build the country where we have such a wonderful life. I didn't want to write these stories as a social history because I wanted reflect on what kind of people the early Australians were; how they survived their every day lives, how they related to each other and how they experienced the events of their lives. So I decided to write the stories as historical novels, which meant joining a lot of the dots and creating personalities and a lot of fiction between the facts. That was about ten years ago so I suppose that's when I decided I wanted to be an author. 

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

I wrote and wrote and wrote. I went to writing groups and found a mentor to help me edit and edit and edit. I think being an author is something that comes from the desire and the discipline and lots of practice. 

7. If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

    I think I've done most of the other things I'd like to do in my life already. Writing is a late-in- life adventure for me. Writing, like the other things I do, is a way of making a contribution to the lives of other people and leaving a legacy in the world. 

 8. Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

I love my garden and also love going on bushwalks or trekking in other parts of the world looking at beautiful scenery and meeting interesting people. I love being part of my church community and giving time to those less fortunate than myself. I love live theatre and good movies. And I love chocolate!  

9. Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

    I love visiting New Zealand because the scenery is fabulous. I've been blessed to visit lots of places overseas; Europe, Britain, Greenland and North Pole, South America, Canada; all with wonderful scenery. I will be in The Lake District of England and some of the Scottish Islands this year and am really looking forward to that. 

10. If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

I'd love to have a meal with Cliff Richard, my favourite singer of all time, and ask him about his life and the choices he has made. 
Nelson Mandela would also be fascinating to sit down and talk with. I can't think of a particular third. I think just about any living person is interesting to listen to  because we are all different, with different stories to tell. We can all learn from each other. 

Finally can you tell us about your current books and/or any that will
be coming out soon. Also where we can find you on the web.

My latest novel is Mary's Guardian, which is a story of people coming to Australia on the First Fleet. It is based on my mother's family history. It tells the story of the first generation of white Australians and how some of them survived. The sequel, Charlotte's Angel, will be out later this year and continues the story into the second generation. I think these are stories of courage, faith and determination. I have four other novels which I self published before these last two. They are stories about my ancestors on my father's side of the family; originally brought to Australia as convicts. The first three are a trilogy which goes up to the First World War. These are all stories about ordinary people who survived extraordinary circumstances and I believe they can inspire us today to recognise what a great heritage we have in Australia, and to think about the way we live out lives and the choices we make. 

My web site is www.carolpreston.com.au and there is more about me and my novels there.