A story about family secrets and tension spanning generations, following a mother and daughter across the globe - fleeing their home because of war.Hanna was born in Vienna, Austria, two years after the end of WWI. Her mother was a strict disciplinarian and her father a drunkard. He disappeared when Hanna was one-year old.Coming from a low socio-economic environment in class-conscious Vienna, Hanna decided early on that the only way to better her life was to educate herself, her ticket to marry up into a better social class, which she did.Hitler annexing Vienna played havoc with her well-established, cozy, married life as Hermann, her husband, was sent to the North German front in Lübeck. While he was away, she gave birth to their daughter, Gilda. War escalated and by law, Hanna was forced to take in a billet, Vladimir, to live with her and Gilda. A relationship developed with Vladimir, as Hermann had left her and, she had nowhere else to turn. However, he was a political dissident from Macedonia and they had to flee Vienna before he was assassinated. So started a series of clandestine escapes from Vienna, to Salzburg, Paris, Genoa, by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, around the coast of Australia, to Townsville in northern Australia before settling in Brisbane a year late.Gilda was 8 by this stage. "Maverick Daughter" is the story of her and her mother. They are linked by the men in their lives, the betrayals, abuse, triumphs and love.As people, we each have an innate resource that enables us to enhance and enrich our lives. What is this resource that allows us to have heaven on Earth, hell on Earth and anything in between? It's our imagination and how we use it. When we voluntarily use it, we create our life by how we choose to react to circumstances. Each of these two women used this powerful tool, imagination, to create her life in different ways with vastly different results. You may see parallels in your own life, in the lives of members of your family or in the lives of people you know. Both mother and daughter rebelled in their own way, and the effects this had on each of their lives could not have been more different. We all choose our path and it is our right to do so. Perhaps we can learn from their story and create a better world. These women honour us by sharing their lives
About the Author: Gloria Hamilten is a writer, literary reviewer, dreamer, adventurer & lifelong learner. She has been writing, from the time of her first poem at age 8, about her tabby, mangy, scarred cat, & about being kind to animals. During high school, as she was born in Austria, she was focused on learning English & so her creative outlet was drawing. However, she always kept a diary which was multilingual. She says, 'My writing was either in French, my main language at the time, German, which I had heard all my life & now spoke at home since we left France, or English.' Once she left school, Gloria wrote more contemplative pieces about coping with life within a challenging family, being a migrant and the philosophising of a teenager finding her place in the world. She lived in the moment as she could not envisage a future within the confines set by a Narcissistic mother & the emotional & physical abuse that resulted. When she started secondary school teaching, she thrust her writing creativity in ensuring it was fun and engaging so that they wanted to read it & then, learn from the material. Her motivation was the same when she developed personal & business development courses for adults when she started her first offline business & then went online in 2007. Apart from secondary teaching, her careers include creating and facilitating courses for the University of Queensland's Corporate division, teaching German and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) in adult evening classes for Queensland's Technical & Further Education, Director of a College of Hospitality & Tourism in Sydney, National Executive Director of Ice Skating Australia, liaising with the Aust Olympic Committee & Aust Sports Commission, & CEO of her Life Coaching business. She always circumvented the status quo. At school, she could do this as her students enjoyed her classes, did their homework & obtained good results; parents were pleased. As an adult, it was easier to write what she wanted to better the life of her clients and readers. Humour, enjoyment, openness and learning have been her modus operandi when writing. Even her fiction works, such as short stories, have messages that gift wisdom to better the life of the reader. To date, apart from thousands of articles & many short stories, she has written and published 5 self-help books, & one fiction novel. She has a BA, B.Ed.St. & M.Ed (M'ment), NLP Accred, studied & practiced Scientific Hand Analysis, Thought Field Therapy & Esoteric philosophies