Whatever Remains: A true story of secret lives and hidden families

by Penny F. Graham

Whatever Remains is a true story. The fall of Singapore is considered one of Britain’s worst defeats of the Second World War. For Penny Graham’s father, however, it became a life-changing opportunity to shed once and for all, all of the shackles of a family he no longer wanted. From 1942 onwards her parents would carry passports that gave them backgrounds that had nothing to do with reality. In 2010, a recognised Australian author claimed that her father and mother were involved in espionage for the British Government before, during and after World War 2. Although he worked in Australian naval intelligence during the war, there is no evidence whatsoever that he was an MI6 spy. He clearly had his own motives for the change of identity but they had nothing to do with espionage. Penny Graham spent most of her adult life unravelling the truth about her family history. Her journey took her around the world twice, on many twists and turns, false leads and dead ends as she discovers hew her father managed to hoodwink so many people in his long and complex life. Whatever Remains is a beautifully written story about solving mysteries, conquering adversity and ultimately finding where you belong in the world. It’s a slice of history worth telling.

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 5, 2015

About the author

I was born in Perth, WA in 1942. My family travelled a lot during my childhood. In 1946, after the war finished, we moved back to Singapore where my father ran a very profitable import export business. My two brothers were sent to boarding school in Australia but I stayed with my family. From age 6 to 13, we moved a lot. My mother’s health had been deteriorating since not long after my birth. Later I was to find she had TB and had suffered from this for most of her adult life. Some of our moves were to find a climate that would suit her. During these early years, we lived in Singapore, Perth, Melbourne and England. My mother died when I was 10. After a very brief stay in Portugal and then England, my father brought the family back to Perth where I lived until I left home at 19. I had very little early schooling and I would characterise my childhood as both isolated and unusual.

I met my husband Lindsay in Canberra in 1962 and we married 3 years later After raising a family of 4 sons in Sydney and then Canberra, I worked first in ACT Health, then the Department of the Senate and finally at the Commonwealth Department of Health. My last job before retirement was the management of health promotion programs across Australia.

After I retired, I became involved with U3A (University of the Third Age) where I ran history courses, digital photography courses and a current affairs group. I am a keen cyclist and ride with a group 3 times a week. My other interests include writing, walking, history and current affairs. We travel a lot and of course during the writing of this book we spent time in many parts of the world, including Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and Russia.

I now live in Canberra with my husband. We travel regularly to Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and France to visit our sons and daughters-in-law and 9 grandchildren. Our family is like a mini United Nations. We have Japanese, French, Indian and Australian daughters-in-law. And our grandchildren – well, they are gorgeous.