Hugo's Gift

It is a 1926 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, a perfection of craftsmanship and engineering; a birthday gift to Isabel Kane from her husband, Hugo. Isabel appears to have it all. She is beautiful, with a loving husband who is successful in business, children, a lovely home and no financial worries. That is until the car accident and in an instant her life is changed. She believes the family is cursed because of that car and family tragedies do seem to indicate she is correct. She herself succumbs to mental problems and her life becomes restricted, bitter and friendless. Despite her demands that the car is destroyed, Hugo, unable to destroy such a perfect machine, hides it away. It is lovingly looked after by his loyal employee, Stanley Connelly, husband of Harriet, who is Hugo's housekeeper. As time moves on the curse still seems to linger, but is there a way in which it can be lifted and the car once more be loved as a family treasure?

The Koneke

This is a tale of deception and intrigue which revives moments of New Zealand’s past. In 1942 the rural township of Te Kauri is disrupted and its residents unnerved when local pig farmer Joe Priestley and his wife Molly, mysteriously disappear. Local cop Will Grayson leads the investigation in his first important case. Challenging times are in store. Will’s efforts are thwarted by a belligerent superior officer, a freak flood and the antics of a crafty bootlegger. These obstacles only harden his resolve to succeed. As Will gathers evidence surrounding the Priestleys’ disappearance, he realizes someone is determined to keep him from the truth.

The Promise

This collection begins with a novella, The Promise, and includes fourteen other 'slice of life' stories that, put together, offer insights on a wide range of human experience. Chance meetings and unexpected circumstances are common themes and undoubtedly the author's work as a psychologist informs her glimpses into both the strengths and weaknesses of 'ordinary people.' These are stories that focus on the individual's capacity to survive and triumph over misfortune.

Boundary Flat Flounders

A semi-educational tale of flounders that live, hide and feed in a tidal estuary - a windswept mudflat called Boundary Flat. Throughout the seasons they watch out for nets and fish hooks and narrowly escape being caught. A blend of fact and fiction describes the special characteristics of this unusual fish. This is a book for every New Zealand child who is interested in nature and the seashore.

Mellons Bay

MELLONS BAY  is a story of relationships and family. It depicts life in colonial Auckland, change and adaptation in a new land, heartache, hope, love and loss. It is also a fictionalised account of the author’s great-great-grandparents.

Throughout the nineteenth century many Irish families were affected by famine and poverty. Mellons Bay traces one such family. In 1849 Harriet and William Mellon arrived in New Zealand on the Oriental Queen, one of ten Fencible ships which came between 1847 and 1852. The Fencibles, a British military corps raised to provide local defence, settled in four villages around Auckland
– establishing the communities of Howick, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga.

The Fencibles constructed houses, roads, bridges and gradually schools, shops and churches. William Mellon worked as a surveyor while his wife produced home-grown goods for market. The Mellon family was one of the first families in Mellons Bay, Howick.

Mellons Bay explores the challenges the settlers faced. It examines inequalities of education and illiteracy, the effects of male power and female lack of power.

The socio-political landscape of Ireland determined the decisions Harriet and William Mellon made and impacted on their relationship for the rest of their lives. The venture from Ireland to New Zealand offered hope for a better life, a home and land. But against these dreams, loss was inevitable.