Woven Web

Most books have a hero, their love interest, a villain, and several support characters, but not this one! In Woven Web, each person has their own story to tell. Someone who is a main character in one chapter may become a minor one in another, or be written out altogether. Elspeth Fairchild inherits artistic talent from her English father and a special gift from her Scottish mother's family, the 'fey' Camerons. Her paintings can foresee the future, or reveal the past. Her picture of a clipper ship, the Carolina, is passed down to her descendants. This painting has great impact on the lives of those who can 'see'. Basil Montgomery's military career comes to a disgraceful end when he is discharged for conduct unbecoming a gentleman. His brother, Lord Montgomery, sends him to Geelong in the colonies to look after the families' business interests. His lover, Norbert Prail, accompanies him. Later, Basil's wife Lydia and Elspeth's young son Virgil, who hero-worships Basil, follow him to the colonies. The lives of the Fairchilds and the Montgomerys become woven together with the Prails, the Beans, the Hawkes, and the Thwaites families. Sometimes family names die out if there are no surviving sons. A further weave entangles the lives of the Perkins family, the Woods, and the Baileys when they intermarry with the established families in the period after the goldrush leading up to federation, the Boer war, the First World War, and the roaring twenties. Fortunes change after the Second World War and the story shifts locality to the small town of Linton near Ballarat where it follows the lives of neighbours and best friends-the Perkins family and the O'Rourkes. Daughters of these families become rivals as their jealousy and envy embitter their lives leading to unforeseen consequences for their children. Robert Kelly returns shattered from the Gulf War and seeks psychiatric help from Doctor Emily (Fairchild) Stone. She gives him a journal to help him communicate. This journal reveals the lives of the Kelly and Roberts families, in particular the relationship between young Bobby (Robert) and his best friend Hilary 'Mouse' Roberts. But in Doctor Stone's consulting room hangs the picture of the Carolina. Emily wonders, can Robert 'see' too?