Finding Kerra: Beyond Borders

by Rosanne Hawke

It's been six months since Jaime Richards' best friend died. Everyone still gives the incident a wide berth with a polite 'How are you now?' But she's not all right.

So for the school holidays, Jaime decides to head Far North to Blake Townsend's station home. He's has always been the one to listen, but she soon realises that Blake isn't always the guy she knew at school.

Not only does she find out he has a sister, Kerra, whom he's never mentioned, but Jaime discovers what a devastating effect a mysterious secret has on the Townsend family. Kerra has believed a lie all her life and through storytelling, Jaime hopes to unearth the secret before it's too late.

Sometimes we just need to know we are loved.

A heartfelt tale of belonging, love and the healing power of story.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

When little I ran around with a jotter and a pencil, pretending to write a story but not knowing how to spell any words except Dick, Dora and cat. My mother asked me to tell stories. A lot of my stories stayed in my head, as being the youngest and living in the country didn't bring many opportunities for an audience. I was born in Penola, in South Australia. We had a sheep farm until I was six, then we moved to a property in Central Queensland. I went to school at a one-teacher school in Banana, a little country town named after a bullock.

My first short story was published in the Moura State School magazine in 1967 when I was in grade 8. At 14 years, I moved back to South Australia and attended Gawler High School where I won an Arts Scholarship to complete Years 11 & 12. I started a romantic novel when I was 17 but I burnt it later.

It wasn't until I was working in the Middle East and Pakistan, teaching ESL, bringing up kids, when I started to write seriously. My kids loved the story game we played and one night after telling a story, my daughter asked me to write it down.

I have a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and teach Creative Writing at Tabor Adelaide, South Australia, a Christian accredited tertiary institution. I have researched Cornish identity in Australian children's literature and enjoy writing about culture, faith, relationships, displacement and belonging, music and cats.

Reviews

[Susan Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with the first few chapters of Finding Kerra. There was a lot of back story which seemed convoluted and unconvincing. However, when I finished the book, I read the advertisements for Rosanne Hawke’s other books. It was only then I realized the book was a part of a series and the reason for the extended back story made sense. Even so, the book doesn’t work well as a stand-alone. I would recommend reading at least one of the previous books in the series before reading this one.

My other struggle was with the behaviour of the young adults. They were acting with Christian morals, but for no apparent reason. Later it turned out that they did have faith, but for a long time, this wasn’t revealed and then seemed overdone, as it hadn’t been mentioned earlier. Perhaps this also would have felt more authentic if I had read the previous books in the series.

Nevertheless, in the end, I did enjoy the story. Jamie had met Blake at school and is invited to his property to help out during the semester break. While she is there, she uncovers a painful past, that is not talked about. Ultimately Jamie is able to draw on her own experiences to bring a healing perspective to the situation. The book is a helpful insight into family dynamics, relationships, forgiveness and working through trauma. It’s well-written, with good descriptions which brought the scenes alive.

Overall it was an interesting read.

[Catriona McKeown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for younger Young Adult readers. I loved the outback setting and seeing some of outback Australia through the author’s eyes.

[Keziah Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book but it needed to have more explained about the ending. I think when Kerra was drowning the kittens that was a bit to confronting for someone like me who loves animals. I feel as well that the faith elements at the start of the story could have been more developed but I understand the book is part of a series and I haven’t read the previous ones.

Overall found it a interesting read.