Read Beneath the Southern Cross Online
Authors: Judy Nunn
Beneath the Southern Cross
| Beneath the Southern Cross |
| Judy Nunn |
| Australia |
| (1999) |
A riveting novel that tells the story of Sydney and the people who shaped its character, its skyline and its heart.In 1788, Thomas Kendall, a naïve nineteen-year-old sentenced to transportation for burglary, finds himself bound for Sydney Town and a new life in the wild and lawless land beneath the Southern Cross. Thomas fathers a dynasty that will last more than two hundred years. His descendants play their part in the forging of a nation, but greed and prejudice see an irreparable rift in the family which will echo through the generations. It is only at the dawn of the new Millennium - as an old journal lays bear a terrible secret - that the family can finally reclaim its honour... Beneath the Southern Cross is as much a story of a city as it is a family chronicle. Bringing history to life, Judy Nunn traces the fortunes of Kendall's descendants through good times and bad, wars and social revolutions to the present day, vividly drawing the events, characters and...
From stage actor and international television star to blockbuster best-selling author, Judy Nunn's career has been meteoric.
Her first forays into adult fiction resulted in what she describes as her âentertainment set'.
The Glitter Game, Centre Stage
and
Araluen,
three novels set in the worlds of television, theatre and film respectively, each became instant bestsellers.
Next came her âcity set': Kal, a fiercely passionate novel about men and mining set in Kalgoorlie;
Beneath the Southern Cross,
a mammoth achievement chronicling the story of Sydney since first European settlement; and
Territory,
a tale of love, family and retribution set in Darwin.
Territory,
together with Judy's next novel,
Pacific,
a dual story set principally in Vanuatu, placed her firmly in Australia's top-ten bestseller list. Her following works,
Heritage,
set in the Snowies during the 1950s, Floodtide, based in her home state of Western Australia, and
Maralinga,
have consolidated her position as one of the country's leading fiction writers. Her eagerly awaited new novel,
Tiger Men,
will publish in November 2011.
Judy Nunn's fame as a novelist is spreading rapidly. Her books are now published throughout Europe in English, German, French, Dutch and Czech.
Judy lives with her husband, actor-author Bruce Venables, on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
The Glitter Game
Centre Stage
Araluen
Kal
Territory
Pacific
Heritage
Floodtide
Maralinga
Tiger Men
Children's fiction
Eye in the Storm
Eye in the City
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian
Copyright Act 1968
), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Beneath the Southern Cross
9781742741840
An Arrow book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
First published by Random House Australia 1999
This Arrow edition published 2000, 2007, 2011
Copyright © Judy Nunn 1999
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any
person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the
statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian
Copyright Act 1968
), recording,
scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior
written permission of Random House Australia.
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Nunn, Judy
Beneath the Southern Cross / Judy Nunn
ISBN 978 1 86471 253 7 (pbk).
A823.3
To Susan J. Mackie, the most understanding, most encouraging and most demanding friend a writer could have. Thanks Suzie, for the imprisonment, for the delivery of writer's lunches and for the homegrown blooms of inspiration.
I would like to especially thank my friend and researcher, Robyn Gurney, and my husband, Bruce Venables, both of whom have been with me every step of this long and interesting journey.
A special thanks also to Jane Palfreyman, Kim Swivel, Dr Grahame Hookway, William J Bailey and Colin Julin.
Of the many research sources explored by both Robyn Gurney and myself, I would like particularly to recognise the following publications:
The Sydney Language
, Jakelin Troy, Australian Dictionaries Project/Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 1993.
Sydney Cove
, John Cobley, Angus & Robertson, 1987 edition.
Sydney, An Illustrated History
, James Murray, Lansdowne Press, 1974.
This Was Sydney: A Pictorial History from 1788 to Present Time
, Suzanne Mourot, Ure Smith, 1969.
The History of Australia
, Volume 5, Manning Clark, Melbourne University Press, 1981.
The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914â1918
, Volume 1, C. E. W. Bean, Angus & Robertson, 1921.
The House of Wunderlich
, Susan Bures, Kangaroo Press, 1978.
Shopkeepers and Shoppers
, Frances Pollon, The Retail Traders' Association of NSW, 1989.
The Australian People and The Great War
, Michael McKernan, William Collins Pty Ltd, 1984 edition.
For Love or Money
, Megan McMurchy, Penguin Books Australia, 1983.
Surry Hills, The City's Backyard
, Christopher Keating, Hale & Iremonger Pty Ltd, 1991.
Kings Cross Album
, Elizabeth Butel & Tom Thompson, Atrand Pty Ltd, 1984.
A Day Before Yesterday
, Abe Davis, A. Davis, 1978.
Port Jackson I believe to be, without exception, the finest and most extensive harbour in the universe and at the same time the most secure, being safe from all the winds that blow. It is divided into a great number of coves, to which His Excellency has given different names. That on which the town is to be built is called Sydney Cove. It is one of the smallest in the harbour, but the most convenient, as ships of the greatest burden can with ease go into it, and heave out close to the shore. Trincomale, acknowledged to be one of the best harbours in the world, is by no means to be compared to it. In a word, Port Jackson would afford sufficient and safe anchorage for all the navies of Europe.
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, 1788