Spotlight is on Fiona Palmer this week
and we’re showcasing The Family Farm
Author Fiona Palmer
I was raised in Pingaring, Western Australia and live there now with my husband Daryl, daughter, Mackenzie and son, Blake. The majority of my childhood weekends were spent on my Uncle and Aunty’s farm ‘Gumlea’. I left school after year eleven, itching to start work and begin my life.
And it was while running the local shop in Pingaring in 2006, in a partnership with my Mum, that I began writing down a story that was roaming around in my head. Lo and behold, this was the start of my writing career.
Fiona Palmer. Living the rural life every day, and writing about it.
Fiona’s CURRENT RURAL RELEASE
Schoolteacher Natalie has always been a city girl. She has a handsome boyfriend and a family who give her only the best. But she craves her own space, and her own classroom, before settling down into the life she is expected to lead.
When Nat takes up a posting at a tiny school in remote Western Australia, it proves quite the culture shock, but she is soon welcomed by the swarm of inquisitive locals, particularly young student Billy and his intriguing single father, Drew.
As Nat’s school comes under threat of closure, and Billy’s estranged mother turns up out of the blue, Nat finds herself fighting for the township and battling with her heart.
Torn between her life in Perth and the new community that needs her, Nat must risk losing it all to find out what she’s really made of – and where she truly belongs.
The Saddler Boys is available in eBook and paperback from all good retailers.
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Fiona has chosen to share an excerpt from The Family Farm
Isabelle Simpson longs to take over the family farm, but her ailing father is locked in a tragedy of the past and won’t give her the chance she deserves. The stand-off between them threatens to tear the family apart.
Izzy decides to break free and make a new start for herself — even though that means leaving the handsome Will Timmins and all her mixed emotions about him behind.
But when hardship falls on the farm again, Izzy returns with an even greater determination to resolve the family feud. As she gathers with her friends in the close community under the shade of the gum-tree tavern, confessions are made, long-held secrets are revealed and hearts are set free.
Set under the blazing blue skies and in the golden wheatfields of Western Australia, this is a colourful story of family life on the land, and a heartwarming romance about finding true love and following your dreams.
Excerpt from The Family Farm by Fiona Palmer
Chapter One
The old Holden ute squeaked and rattled as it rolled along the gravel road, leaving a billowing dust trail. Isabelle Simpson was glad to see the land around her home district hadn’t changed during her absence. The same vast blue sky watched over her, and the unchanged trees were filled with pink and grey galahs and bright-green parrots. Her heart felt free and her skin tingled with eagerness. Not long now. She smiled at the familiar farm signs along the road as if remembering old friends. Izzy was glad that that the farmers she’d known her whole life hadn’t sold out and moved on. It just wouldn’t be home without them.
A high-pitched ringing interrupted her thoughts. Pulling over, Izzy picked up her mobile, saw who was calling and promptly pressed cancel before throwing the phone down. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Didn’t he realise what he’d done?
The phone began vibrating on the seat near her leg. A text message had arrived. Hesitantly, she picked up her mobile.
We need 2 talk. Can u please call me.
Like hell, she thought. Izzy had already told him all she was going to say on the matter. Suddenly a sob forced its way out from deep in her throat, catching her by surprise. Her shoulders shook as she clutched the steering wheel. Finally, the bottled-up tears fell in floods. He had ruined everything and she felt so betrayed. Izzy let the tears fall freely, hoping it might help her move on and be done with this whole cock-up.
The familiar road beckoned her when she glanced at it through blurry eyes. I’m almost home, she thought. Sniffing loudly, she wiped away the last of her tears and sat up straight. Izzy Simpson was made of rougher stuff than that. Besides, another few minutes and she’d be back home. Back to her parents. Back to the strong memories of her sister, Claire. Back to the close proximity of Will Timmins. Back to another man complicating her life.
Bloody hell. That’s all I need, she thought, sighing.
Planting her foot on the accelerator and spraying gravel, Izzy drove her ute back onto the road. She headed through her local town, past the three large grain-storage bins. They were a towering icon of Pingaring and a marker point for Izzy. Her family’s farm lay only ten minutes to the east. After days of travelling, it finally felt like she was coming home.
As she peered out of the open window, the breeze flicked her long dark hair about her face, tickling her skin. There was something about returning that made the landscape seem so much more beautiful and bright, highlighting the smell of the warm dusty ait, the hint of eucalyptus and the glorious blue of the sky. She knew this route like the back of her hand – the mallee trees and scrub bush that lined the road, and the places where the wildflowers grew in spring.
Taking a deep breath, as if she could suck in all familiar smells at once, Izzy glanced at her kelpie dog. ‘What do you reckon, Tom? Good to be home, isn’t it, mallee?’
His answer was to stick his head out the open passenger window. Tom’s tongue flapped in the wind and his bottom lip blew down, revealing his yellow teeth.
Both windows were open, and the hot afternoon breeze provided the only relief from the stifling heat. Even though her ute was old, it still ran well. Brown vinyl lined the interior, well worn but clean and tidy, except for the dog hairs that coated the brown seat covers on the passenger side. On the floor below Tom sat his ice-cream container with enough water to wet his chops.
Yes, her old blue Holden was more than just metal and rubber. It was almost like a member of her family. Izzy had bought it when she was fifteen. After four long weeks working on Spud’s crutching cradle she had earned enough money to buy it, off the local mechanic in town.
Izzy remembered that long month, many years ago. It had been the first time she’d worked off the family farm. Her first day’s work was over at a neighbouring property crutching six hundred head of ewes, big fat ones too. It was a stinking hot day full of endless flies and large blowies. Spud, Johnno and Mick were on the crew back then. They crutched the wool off around the tail of the ewes to prevent them from being blown by flies, while she roused and pushed up sheep. She could still remember the clang of the metal flap as the blokes had pulled the ewes from the high race she’d just pushed them up into. The whirr from the hand pieces and the constant bangs, mixed in with Mick and Johnno yelling sick jokes to each other, had caused her ears to ring that day. Then there were the sharp prickles hidden in the wool that had made her already sore and swollen fingers sting as she grabbed the ewes by their thick, greasy coats, struggling to move the more stubborn ones up the race. Not to mention her aching back from bending over all day sorting the crutchings from the shitty dags and half-clean bits of wool.
Izzy had quickly learnt to pack her own toilet paper. It came in handy when you had to squat behind the ute or the cradle.
The Family Farm is available in eBook and paperback from all good retailers.
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iBooks
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Read more about Fiona and her books on MEET FIONA PALMER
Fiona also writes contemporary YA novels. Discover them on her webpage.
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