Girlie

"Against the backdrop of the Second World War coming to an end, and a time of change into the early 1950s, teenager and young woman, Eileen Bonney, wrestles with webs of love, deceit and secrets as she tries to define herself amid the expectations, demands, friendships and lies of others.

Leaving school at age 13 to care for a distraught and ill mother and five siblings, abandoned but overseen by a philandering father, pursued by a deceitful older lover, fighting a battle with tuberculosis, Eileen survives as best she can in the hope that, one day, her world will be better.

But life isn’t about becoming - it’s about being."

Girlie is a semi-biographical story of the life of my mother from age 13 to 22 spanning the years 1944-1953. I'm forever grateful to my mother for allowing me to interview her and for sharing the multitude of photographs she took with her box Brownie, and her brothers and sisters for sharing their tales, because it allowed me to recreate the tapestry of my mother's formative years. The work also entailed significant research for historical details and events surrounding my mother's family and rapidly became a classic 'labour of love.' The book's blurb sums up the result.

Girlie was first self-published on Amazon in 2024 and released on March 24, my mother's birthday. The original cover, mainly for family members, featured a picture of my mother when she was recovering post-lung surgery set against a background of the tapestry she wove while she was rehabilitating. Subsequently, the cover was updated with new design work I creted using Photoshop and images and a family photograph embedded in the background.

Print copies at $30 each plus postage can be ordered directly from me by emailing [email protected]. I will provide an invoice with details for payment and, upon payment, I will send you the books you order. Depending on the printer, the turnaround is usually 2-3 weeks.

You can order ebook and print book versions from various publishers via this link: https://books2read.com/u/mdRw65

Currently, the book is also available through Amazon Australia in ebook and paperback and hardback print versions via the following links: