About the Book
This book is about survival, escaping from a hard death and having to travel to the ends of the earth to do so.
People immigrated in the past, are doing it now, and will continue to do so into the future; the reason, often as simple as survival, as the story illustrates.
Spanning the most tumultuous years in the South Pacific's history, and the events erupting within them, the book places Gilbert and William, two brothers of 13 children, attempting a life in the Shetland Islands.
Their family, once proud generals of Bonnie Prince Charlie's armies, escaped the 1745 massacre of Culloden, and fled to the islands incognito, but the brothers were betrayed and shanghaied into the British Navy by Magnus Munson, an age-old nemesis of the clan.
The brothers endure the brutality of the six-month voyage to the ends of the earth, and are shipwrecked off the coast of Victoria, Australia, where they are rescued by Bunjil, an Aboriginal man, who guides them over land to Portland, introducing them to the new world's
flora and fauna enroute.
Life was hard for the young woman left behind in the Shetlands as well, and following the attempted rape of Grace, their sister, by Munson, the clan agree that Grace, and her best friend, Uileen, will have to make the voyage into the unknown, following the brothers fate.
The background themes of freedom, betrayal, love and devotion, and the ever-present grief and loss, play out against the Scottish Highland clearances, the European potato famine, and its impact on Ireland, and immigration to the Antipodes, with all of the lawlessness and
anarchy that prevails.
There is a history of the little discussed phenomenon, in Australia, of 'blackbirding', the South Pacific Island slavery, piracy, and cannibalism; the indispensable contribution of the
Chinese immigrants, Ming Toi and Master Pho, along with the Eureka Stockade, describing its buildup and subsequent effects on democracy.
Resiliency and perseverance are lined up against the moral complexities overlooked by greed, murder and psychopathy, frequently the companion of goldrushes.
The main character's journeys take them to New Zealand, where they witness the land theft by the New Zealand Company, and the ensuing Māori land wars.
There are a diverse range of pivotal secondary characters, such as the exotic Ming Toi and her grandfather, Master Pho from China, the Irish larrikins, Shemus and Flann, alongside their Scottish countryman, Colin Couper, Norwegian Captain Peter Lars Jensen, the Aboriginal
Warung clan, Black Billy, Bunjil, and Alice.
With blackguards like Sir Redmond Gunn, his mistress Ann Munson, and his wife, Lady Agatha and the infamous pirate Bludger Baines decorating and colouring the scenes of daily life in southern Australia, the brother's lives are tested to their maximum limit.
The New Zealand contingent include Manaia, a well-known South Island Māori, heroine Barbara Couper and with them, some of the true heroes of the story, the dogs, Haggis, Digger, and Cobber and the rare and magnificent, 'Koru the Kea', New Zealand parrot extraordinaire.
Throughout these events, the main characters richly illustrated lives and struggles, to overcome obstacles within themselves, as much as those constructed by class, circumstance,
race and gender are described and in addition to the narrative are deeply compelling and exquisite descriptions of the incredible, natural environments that the story takes place in.
'The Fire Within' is as much about love, as it is about the historical struggle for freedom from persecution.
