I’ve read all 21 of this authors novels and I am yet to be disappointed…

The Winter Sea

Di Morrissey

Available for $22.95 via Booktopia. 

Australian author Di Morrissey has 21 books to her credit and I have read all of them!  One day I may be disappointed in one of Di’s novels, but that day is not today.

The Winter Sea is a great read spanning nearly a century and telling the story of the D’Aquino family. The early part of the novel tells us about the life the family lead one of the tiny Aeolian Islands north of Sicily. Mostly illiterate, the men of the island are fisherman and as a very young boy, it is obvious that Giuseppe has an innate feel for the sea.

Following World War 1, poverty on this tiny Italian island is even worse than usual. Someone needs to go to America and earn money to send back to the family. By a quirk Giuseppe misses the boat but feeling he can’t return to the village and lacking enough money to wait until the next boat for America, he decides to take the boat sailing tomorrow, headed for… Australia.

On board he meets Bridie a beautiful Irish girl who teaches Giuseppe to speak English.  Although he intends to leave the ship in Fremantle, WA, he travels on to Melbourne to stay with Bridie, but finds she is betrothed and will marry soon after her arrival. Instead he goes to Sydney, where he changes his name to Joe and settles briefly, working for a Greek fisherman who sells his catch on Bondi Beach.

Through his naivety Giuseppe steps in the wrong toes and flees to Wollongong where he starts working for Franco in his large fleet, before moving further south to Whitby Point where he settles, is an honoured member of his community and loved head of his family, the beginnings of the Aquino dynasty.

Fast forward to the new century and Cassandra Holloway takes up temporary residence in Whitby Point leaving behind her career as a high flying lawyer and her totally unprincipled husband. Although there to heal, Cassie finds she is so grateful to have left the fast life, career and husband behind her, there is little healing needed and instead she embarks on a new career, with new men in her life.

What can happen to spoil this new life?

The death of the patriarch of the Aquino family, son of Joe, has massive repercussions for Cassie, but why?  She only met the man for a few brief minutes on his 90^th birthday?  How can a long held family secret destroy her business and blossoming new love?  All will be revealed, but not by me!

Using the fishing industry on the south coast of New South Wales as her backdrop, Di Morrissey has written a novel which is eminently readable, which has political and environmental undertones.  I read it in just a few days and wouldn’t have taken so long if I hadn’t had to do inconsequential things like sleeping.

I know many of you enjoy Di’s books as much as I do and I can assure you this new release won’t disappoint.  Have you already read The Winter Sea? I’d love to hear your opinion.

Available for $22.95 via Booktopia. 

Reddit rating

About the Author

Di Morrissey (born 18 March 1948) is one of Australia’s most popular female novelists.

Aged 5, Di moved to Pittwater in her own words “a remote and magical part of Sydney, which in those days was populated by rather bohemian characters. One of these, the Australian actor Chips Rafferty, taught me dozens of Australian poems and shared with me his experiences in the Australian outback where he lived before he started his acting career. The poet Dorothrea Mackeller, whose poem, ‘My Country’ has such an important place in Australian literature, also lived near us. She encouraged me to write down my stories so that other people could enjoy them, too.”

In later years, Di became a journalist on London’s Fleet Street, and worked for CBS in Honolulu.  After moving back to Australia, Di published her first book ‘Heart of the Dreaming’ which instantly became a bestseller. Since then Di has published another 20 bestsellers.

Morrissey is an environmentalist and activist. She has been a longtime supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi and has visited Myanmar several times where she is now helping raise funds to build a monastery school in Sagaing.

Di now lives in the beautiful Manning Valley near Taree with partner Boris. To read more about Di go to her website www.dimorrissey.com.au

Available for $22.95 via Booktopia.