Mandy Maroney

A girl and a country are coming of age...

It’s 1973 and independence is coming to Papua New Guinea when sixteen-year-old Billie flies home to the tropical paradise of New Ireland for the Christmas holidays. She meets the charismatic rebel Errol, who opens her eyes to the narrow racism of the expat Australian society and to the threats of sorcery and cargo cult from his own. As her District Commissioner father is caught in the middle, Billie’s loyalty is tested, with tragic consequences.

Twelve years later, a wiser Billie returns to the islands to face her demons, discover the truth about the past and come to terms with the future.

An earlier version of this novel won the 2008 VPLA for an Unpublished Manuscript, which praised its ’sure handling of an elegiac story of loss...within the context of a significant historical period of turmoil.’