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Chill of Blame
Mabel Daley's unwavering belief in her son Billy's perfection, led to his rebellion and defiance as he approached manhood.
Meanwhile, Mabel’s fixation on Joe's role as protector of his older brother smothered Joe in layers of blame and guilt, threatening to destroy his future. As their family heads towards disaster because of Mabel's destructive obsession, a greater threat looms over their lives.
Set against the backdrop of the Australian Light Horse's heroic efforts in the Middle East during the First World War, this tale follows the Daley family as they navigate through the consequences of one woman’s destructive obsession.
Will peace ever return to the family and friends on Billabong Downs?
Meanwhile, Mabel’s fixation on Joe's role as protector of his older brother smothered Joe in layers of blame and guilt, threatening to destroy his future. As their family heads towards disaster because of Mabel's destructive obsession, a greater threat looms over their lives.
Set against the backdrop of the Australian Light Horse's heroic efforts in the Middle East during the First World War, this tale follows the Daley family as they navigate through the consequences of one woman’s destructive obsession.
Will peace ever return to the family and friends on Billabong Downs?
420 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2024
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June 5, 2024
Chill of Blame is the latest in a series of meticulously researched historical novels from the prolific pen of Australian author Elizabeth Rimmington. Like its predecessors, the book is centred on the lives of people in rural and remote parts of Queensland over a hundred years ago, revealing in rich yet always accessible prose just how difficult life was for the average person in those far-off times. Chill of Blame is also set partly in the Middle East, where it highlights the heroic efforts of the Australian Light Horse during the First World War.
Each turn of the page shows a novelist in full command of both craft and subject matter. The depth of research is stunning. In this author’s hands, the characters march across the canvas of history and take the reader with them every step of the way. From the streets of Townsville to the bloody battlefield of Beersheeba, from the delta of the Nile to droving camps on the dusty Diamantina, the story sweeps us along at a pace redolent of Wilbur Smith, Peter Watt or Colleen McCullough at their best. All this, while retaining its thoroughly unique and clear authorial voice, its conciseness, its empathy.
Elizabeth Rimmington is particularly adept at “showing” rather than “telling”, transporting us seamlessly into the social settings and landscapes of early 20th century Australia, Egypt and Palestine. A demonstration of this occurs early in the book, when the sights, sounds, tastes and even the feel of a busy Townsville street bring the scene vividly to life – the clatter of horses’ hooves; the rumble of cartwheels; the swish of long skirts; manure, urine, leather, dust; flowers at a flower stall; the perfume of lilacs on a handkerchief – the scene is as real for the reader as it is for the protagonists.
And then there are the brilliantly realized battle scenes. Many of today’s authors are inclined to run into trouble when conveying those savage moments of cut and thrust and frenzied action. The tendency with many writers is often to provide too much description, where every rifle shot, or slash of a sword, or shift in the saddle is rendered in fine and gory detail: either that, or the writer pares down and minimizes so much that the inherent drama of the scene is lost for the reader. None of that here! In this area once again, Elizabeth Rimmington’s word choice, pace and balance are sure and precise : the actual charge of the Australian Light Horse on Beersheeba is a tour de force of description, bringing home the sheer adrenaline-fueled recklessness, the inordinate bravery, the danger and the pathos of a now legendary event.
We can learn so much from good historical fiction, especially when it’s as clearly and concisely written as Chill of Blame. Soon after starting the book, I began to realize the vast gaps in my own knowledge of those long-ago military campaigns in far-off lands and what they might mean for us still as a nation. In a short space of time, I was learning – marvelling, in fact, at the logistics of troop movements; marvelling also at the toughness of men living for weeks on tea and bully beef; all the while learning about saddles and bayonets and sabres; and learning, too, about extreme hardship met simply with stoicism and high spirits. Most of all, though, I learned so much about the sheer courage of these men that my already profound respect for them has become even greater. We should all be proud of the men and women of the Australian Defence Forces, and of their heritage and traditions, and this book does the legendary light horsemen full justice.
In summary, a richly-woven tapestry of life in the Queensland bush and the 1917-18 campaigns of the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East. Thoroughly recommended reading. Geoff
Each turn of the page shows a novelist in full command of both craft and subject matter. The depth of research is stunning. In this author’s hands, the characters march across the canvas of history and take the reader with them every step of the way. From the streets of Townsville to the bloody battlefield of Beersheeba, from the delta of the Nile to droving camps on the dusty Diamantina, the story sweeps us along at a pace redolent of Wilbur Smith, Peter Watt or Colleen McCullough at their best. All this, while retaining its thoroughly unique and clear authorial voice, its conciseness, its empathy.
Elizabeth Rimmington is particularly adept at “showing” rather than “telling”, transporting us seamlessly into the social settings and landscapes of early 20th century Australia, Egypt and Palestine. A demonstration of this occurs early in the book, when the sights, sounds, tastes and even the feel of a busy Townsville street bring the scene vividly to life – the clatter of horses’ hooves; the rumble of cartwheels; the swish of long skirts; manure, urine, leather, dust; flowers at a flower stall; the perfume of lilacs on a handkerchief – the scene is as real for the reader as it is for the protagonists.
And then there are the brilliantly realized battle scenes. Many of today’s authors are inclined to run into trouble when conveying those savage moments of cut and thrust and frenzied action. The tendency with many writers is often to provide too much description, where every rifle shot, or slash of a sword, or shift in the saddle is rendered in fine and gory detail: either that, or the writer pares down and minimizes so much that the inherent drama of the scene is lost for the reader. None of that here! In this area once again, Elizabeth Rimmington’s word choice, pace and balance are sure and precise : the actual charge of the Australian Light Horse on Beersheeba is a tour de force of description, bringing home the sheer adrenaline-fueled recklessness, the inordinate bravery, the danger and the pathos of a now legendary event.
We can learn so much from good historical fiction, especially when it’s as clearly and concisely written as Chill of Blame. Soon after starting the book, I began to realize the vast gaps in my own knowledge of those long-ago military campaigns in far-off lands and what they might mean for us still as a nation. In a short space of time, I was learning – marvelling, in fact, at the logistics of troop movements; marvelling also at the toughness of men living for weeks on tea and bully beef; all the while learning about saddles and bayonets and sabres; and learning, too, about extreme hardship met simply with stoicism and high spirits. Most of all, though, I learned so much about the sheer courage of these men that my already profound respect for them has become even greater. We should all be proud of the men and women of the Australian Defence Forces, and of their heritage and traditions, and this book does the legendary light horsemen full justice.
In summary, a richly-woven tapestry of life in the Queensland bush and the 1917-18 campaigns of the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East. Thoroughly recommended reading. Geoff
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