ISBN 978-1-922527-72-1
PAPERBACK

From the Inside

The first nine weeks of the Black Summer fires in the Upper Murray

A personal view of the impact of the 2019/20 Green Valley Bushfire on the Newnhams’ home, family, and community from inside the fire zone in Walwa, Upper Murray, Australia.

Isolated from friends and family and enmeshed in the fight to defend her family’s farm from the 2019/2020 Black Summer fires, Janice Newnham was moved to document and communicate the situation to the outside world via Facebook posts.

It started as a need to quickly reassure worried friends and family, but soon became a mental health exercise, a necessity to unload by uploading to Facebook!

This book represents the first nine weeks of an ongoing story of the impact of bushfire disaster on a small rural community and is representative of many Australian farmers and rural communities during an unprecedented bushfire season: The Black Summer.

ISBN 978-1-922890-57-3
PAPERBACK

White Lies

Where there is smoke

Based on a true story, White Lies (Where there is smoke…) is set in ‘God’s Own Country’, in Walwa, Northeast Victoria.

A fiery car wreck extinguishes the life of Raymond (Dickie) White’s devoted wife and catapults him to the attention of enthusiastic police investigators and newspaper journalists and simultaneously reignites the local rumour mill.

Is he the victim of small-town gossip, ultimately hounded to death by misinterpretations of his actions? Or is he a cunning, scheming individual who manipulates situations and takes advantage of innocents to achieve his ambition of owning his own farm?

His plans unravel as his web of lies is unpicked by the persistent, dedicated investigations of police utilising innovative forensic techniques and insightful deductions. As the net closes around him, he is left with only one option for escape.

About the Author

Janice Newnham is a veterinarian by profession, a farmer by passion and is easily distracted by cows, dogs, family and the environment! She is a time-poor would-be creative with ambitions to indulge in her love of writing, art, and photography to capture images and stories of her environment, family and community. Imbued with a strong community spirit, she advocates for- and supports her community by serving and supporting several community organisations. Family is her number one priority, and she is devoted to her husband, Crundle (Robert), and their growing family of two sons, Connor and Sasha, (step-) daughter Bianca and their partners and children. The Newnhams own a small piece of paradise in Walwa in the Upper Murray and breed Angus cattle.