Elizabeth Rimmington – författare

Drifting on a timber yardarm following the shipwreck of the Pink Pearl in the Arafura Sea in 1892 had not featured in the plans of the two doctors for their triumphant return to their Australian homeland.

Cooktown, the ultimate destination for Doctor Henry George Carson Baldwin and Doctor Edward Benton, floated as an unattainable goalpost on the periphery of their minds.

Even if they survived the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, landing on the western shores of Cape York Peninsula with the monsoon season only weeks away did not offer substantial hope for a safe return to civilization.

With limited knowledge of this country, which promised challenges to their physical and mental strength, the two men had little hope of overcoming the harsh and unforgiving terrain. In a country where food and water were often camouflaged, they required specialist knowledge if they had any hope of surviving. Knowledge that was held by a people with little reason to trust white men.

Mabel Daley''s unwavering belief in her son Billy''s perfection, led to his rebellion and defiance as he approached manhood.

Meanwhile, Mabel''s fixation on Joe''s role as protector of his older brother smothered Joe in layers of blame and guilt, threatening to destroy his future. As their family heads towards disaster because of Mabel''s destructive obsession, a greater threat looms over their lives.

Set against the backdrop of the Australian Light Horse''s heroic efforts in the Middle East during the First World War, this tale follows the Daley family as they navigate through the consequences of one woman''s destructive obsession.

Will peace ever return to the family and friends on Billabong Downs?

A nineteenth-century novel set in Queensland, Australia. Convict transportation had been ceased and the area opened to free settlement twenty-four years previously.

                Lucy Dougall dies; her four children orphaned. Fifteen-year-old Sarah will do whatever it takes to keep the family together; just as her mother had done. Any thoughts of romance in her life are quashed. When, like a tsunami wave, disaster strikes, grief and self-loathing overwhelm Sarah. It is the proprietor of Millie’s Mariner’s Rest; Hotel and Lodging who takes the family in and offers Sarah work as a trainee housekeeper. The girl flourishes under Millie’s care, but Sarah’s trauma remains deep inside. Millie’s stepson, Jacko, develops an attraction for the young woman but is at a loss to understand why Sarah retreats at the most innocent touch of his hand. With patience and wisdom gained from living her life on the edge of acceptable society, will Millie guide the damaged young girl to maturity?

                Sarah’s brothers, Josh and Gus, seek a berth on the Northern Orchid, the ship on which their father lost his life six years previously. Many who sail on the Northern Orchid believe Jimmy Dougall’s ghost still walks the decks.

                At Captain Sloan’s request, the lads spend seven months working on the Brisbane docks.  Under the tutelage of a retired friend of the captain’s, their purview is to learn all they can of steam engines and ships. It is here, on the docks, the lads discover they must fight to protect their jobs. 

                The Northern Orchid, a coastal trader confronting the challenges of the partially mapped reefs of the Queensland Inner Channel, offers many experiences both in sea craft and in human nature. Will this be enough to carve young men from raw boys?

                 Captain Sloan and Mate MacGregor mentor Josh and Gus as a favour to the dead Jimmy Dougall who had saved their lives on the day he was killed. Despite this, a life is lost, another life teeters on the verge of death, another must face the Bowen magistrate.

Sequel to the novel "Shadow of the Northern Orchid".

This nineteenth-century novel begins in London 1867. Abigail Baldwin, recently widowed and pregnant faces an unpleasant decision. Abigail battles within herself; the determined woman against a lifetime of obeyance to her autocratic father. What will convince her to leave a comfortable lifestyle and join her twin brother? Doctor George Goldfinch plans to emigrate to Queensland where he hopes to set up a medical practice in the fledging town of Brisbane.

Seven years later finds the Goldfinch Entourage aboard the “Northern Orchid” on a journey to Cooktown in North Queensland. This ill-equipped settlement is host to thousands of miners travelling to and from the goldfields on the Palmer River. Disillusioned miners are returning to Cooktown in poor physical condition. Many have died on the treacherous track. The group is here on a mercy mission as well as to assuage a need for adventure.

Onboard ship is the stowaway Maureen Ryan who is on a quest of her own. She must find her father, a gold prospector, whom she hopes will be at the recent gold-find on the Palmer River.

Abigail takes the young woman into her care offering support for the girl and her search.

Cooktown reveals no evidence of Bert Ryan. Maureen realises she must make the dangerous trek to the Palmer River Goldfields if she is to find her father. Dressed as a young boy, Maureen joins a packhorse teamster, Silas, trading between Cooktown and the Palmer River goldfields. He claims to know Bert Ryan, her father. Will her disguise survive a two-week journey along a 200-mile track which claims the lives of miners seeking the gold on a daily basis?

Can this innocent young woman trust Silas?

When the headstrong couple, SHAUNA Doolan and MARK McIvor, fall in love on board the ship to Queensland, they discover reconciling differences generate stormy seas. A shipboard romance may be a fleeting thing, but it can have a lasting impact on the lives of those involved.

When two brothers fall in love with the same woman, strong currents swirl beneath the surface. JAMES McIvor learns how a glimpse of beauty may remain with someone for a lifetime.

Within months of their arrival in the new country, a husband and father along with his two brothers are drawn into the vortex of a world war. Nobody returns from such a horror unscathed. If they return at all.

Rhylla and Robbie MacBurnie have it all: a loving relationship, successful careers, three children, a beautiful home with a live-in housekeeper, and a gardener.

Those with everything have further to fall.

In a moment of fury, Robbie stares at his brother Greg, lying in a widening halo of blood. In her bedroom, Robbie''s youngest daughter Kirsty lies unconscious and in disarray.

To protect his family, Robbie, disguised as his brother Greg, hops a train to Mount Isa. The police want to arrest Greg while a Sydney razor gang seeks to silence him forever.

With Robbie away, Rhylla is left to deal with everything alone, fabricating stories to prevent anyone from learning why her husband suddenly disappeared. Her heartache takes second place as she helps her daughter deal with the rape and its consequences. The attitude of society in the first half of the twentieth century does not make it easy for mother or daughter.

When Robbie doesn''t return, Rhylla fears the worst, continuing to keep the secret of the reason why he disappeared as she carries on with her life and raising her family.

Fourteen years later, Rhylla''s granddaughter Skye-Marie is determined to learn the answers to the mysteries woven like a hessian thread through the silver fabric of her life. Her curiosity threatens to unravel Rhylla''s secrets.

Rhylla is under pressure to reveal the secrets which have haunted her over the passing years. Should she disclose to her family the horror of their heritage or keep stum to protect them in a house of secrets?