Transported from England to the rainforests of northern Queensland Australia in 1876, 17 year old and newly married Margaret, finds herself abandoned and alone while her husband disappears in search of gold to renew his fortunes. Facing starvation, her only hope for survival are the Rainforest Mallanbarra Bama, aboriginals of the little known Yidinji Nation who are forced to be at enmity with the new settlers flooding their land. Margaret must overcome many trials and ultimately keep a secret that she will take to the grave. A secret that will not only change her life, but the lives of many generations to come. This is a story that paints a beautiful and elegant portrayal of the Yidinji in their 40,000-year-old rainforest home. It is a tale of discovery, innocence, violence, bewilderment, and love and it is a book you will want to read more than once, ... and will remember with perfect clarity long after you return to the real world ... "MARGARET'S SECRET" is the most original, inspiring and deeply moving historical romance I've read since Gone with the Wind. Especially for the American reader, it illuminates a little-known legacy of Australia's past, and exposes the hidden relationship between the English colonialists and aborigines." Alan Rinzler Senior Developmental Editor http: //alanrinzler.com/
About the Author: Born in New Zealand, Vivienne grew up in the subtropical forests of Titirangi. The family home sat on the edge of a cliff looking out on the Manukau Harbour, where six generations before her ancestors had arrived from Scotland, via Newfoundland, and sailed up the channel past the very spot where she would one day live in the land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa. She now lives in Australia, the land of wide blue skies and even wider horizons and calls herself a citizen of Oceania, the people of the south pacific. Compelled to write "My earliest recollection of this desire to write is of stealing toilet paper in the night and writing lion stories on it on my windowsill under the light of the outside street lamp that fell as an ever-present spirit of approval into my window as our house was below the road. It did this quite in opposition to my mother's command to "sleep". I was about eight, and as I grew, the only thing that changed was the quality of paper I used on that windowsill." Early novels Nonetheless, her first novel wasn't written until she was 31. 'The Breeding of Rage' and a second book 'Koru's Tehora', followed just a year later. She now writes continuously. Margaret's Secret, followed by Ulmarra, The Message Stick and The Return of the Dreamtime, are the culmination of the Ulmarra Heritage series. Stories for a new campfire She is told she is a natural storyteller and admits she is inextricably drawn to it. "I feel as though I might once have been found seated in the fire ring of a village sometime history, whispering some mysterious portent as the children's eyes grow wide, or flailing my arms in unison with the crescendo of a great adventure. But now I'm found on line ... seated and ready for the entire global village to hear the tales I have to tell. Get comfortable and look deep into the flickering firelight of my soul and let me tell you a new story ..."