Devil's Choice (Old Balmain House)

Old Balmain House family story moves to the next generationA man sits at a table in a prison cell, hands shackled. The door opens.In comes a slip of a girl, eyes darting around, face drawn and white.She is small and slender, like a teenager, but seems older.The man leers with desire - so long since he has seen a pretty girl.“Well, well, look what the fairy godmother has brought to pleasure me.”The girl recoils as if struck, then steadies and sits down facing him.She stares at the man intently, mixed loathing and desperation in her eyes.She wrings her hand together then holds still, as if to gather courage.Finally she speaks, “Please, I need to know if you are my father?” Two decades pass. Lizzie’s daughter, Catherine, has a child, Amelie.But soon after Amelie’s third birthday, the unthinkable happens.She gets sick: the unspoken word is ‘CANCER’, childhood leukaemiaTreatment fails, it is all to no avail, a little girl’s life hangs in the balance.A bone marrow transplant the last chance - but no match, no donor is found.Could another relative help – perhaps her father, aunt, uncle or cousinBut who is Catherine’s real father, the man who raped her mother.Three men were there that night; one is murdered, two are in jail.She must ask for help from these monsters who abused her motherThese men are hardened criminals - she must visit them in prison.She cannot bear to ask, to beg them and plead for help,But yet she must try – it is her daughter’s only chance.It truly is a Devil’s ChoiceA parents worst nightmare. A small child with an incurable disease and a father who served in Vietnam and blames himself for her illness. The family is torn apart. Finally only one choice remains to save the daughter's life, a Devil's Choice.The time is in the 1980s. Catherine, Lizzie's daughter has returned to Sydney to study. She now lives in Balmain, near where her mother grew up. She settles into life there, establishes a successful career and marries. Then she has a daughter who is the joy of both her and her husband's lives.But when her daughter is two years old the unimaginable happens. Her daughter develops an incurable disease, advanced leukaemia. Other treatments fail. Now the only option to save her daughters life is a bone marrow transplant. They search desperately for a donor to match. But no one is found. Her daughter has an unusual tissue profile that seems to come from her Catherine's own father.But who is her father? Catherine was conceived when her mother was raped by three men. Two of the three men who raped her mother are now in jail, destined to spend the most of their life there. The third is dead.Can Catherine bear to make the choice and bring herself to appeal to one of these men in an attempt to save her daughter's life when she knows that even this may be futile.This is the third novel in "The Old Balmain House" Series. Novel two, Lizzie's Tale,tells the story of Lizzie a girl from Balmain and her struggle to keep her own daughter when pregnant at only 15 and the terrible choices she must make. This book.continues the family's story into a third generation.

Reviews of Book

If I could give it six stars I would!!! – it is not often a book will bring actual tears to my eyes but this one did as well as keep me up way past bedtime. If it does not touch you similarly I would be very surprised.

I liked this novel - I thought it was well tied in with the two previous novels in the series and was a fitting conclusion to the series. In a similar fashion as the other two novels I enjoyed the author's exploration of themes in this novel such as rehabilitation, homosexuality and realities of prison life done in an open non-judgemental way leaving the reader to form their own conclusion.

Reviews of Series

Five Stars - I'm so glad I got these books in a set. Each book reached further into the story, always going forward, but also bringing the past as the story unfolded. Well-written characters, and such detail that I felt I was walking alongside them as I read. No imagination is needed to see the people and places in your mind. Vivid descriptions brought the time and place to mind easily. Kindle said it would take more than 9 hours to read it. I did it over two days...I could not put it down! I've always dreamed of visiting Australia, and these books just increased that dream. Well worth reading!!!

Absolutely loved this series - I could not put it down, it held me riveted to each story looking for more. I could vividly imagine each tale and description of the places even though I haven't been there. I would recommend this collection to anyone who wants to read about the settlers in Australia passing through generations and the fast paced tale that goes with all the books in the collection. Well Done Graham Wilson.

Wonderful - I couldn’t bear to put them down.......wishing there were more in the series. The people were so real it’s almost like I’ve met them.

Five stars – A brilliant read, very interesting.

Five Stars - Another fabulous Australian saga by Graham Wilson - I didn't realise at first this was by the writer of the 5 book Crocodile Dreaming Series. It all makes sense now the way this book rolls along painting out the rich history of 19th Century settlers carving out lives creating history. A huge amount of information to handle. Highly enjoyable read.