'I've waited for this moment so long, dreamed of it, prepared for it, I can barely believe it's finally here. But it is. And it is nothing like I expected.'There was a short time in Australia's European history when two women wielded extraordinary power and influence behind the scenes of the fledgling colony.One was Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of the new governor Lachlan Macquarie, nudging him towards social reform and magnificent buildings and town planning. The other was Elizabeth Macarthur, credited with creating Australia's wool industry and married to John Macarthur, a dangerous enemy of the establishment.These women came from strikingly different backgrounds with husbands who held sharply conflicting views. They should have been bitter foes. Elizabeth & Elizabeth is about two courageous women thrown together in impossible times.Borne out of an overriding admiration for the women of early colonial Australian history, Sue Williams has written a...

On the night Leo Stone returns—notionally from the dead, in reality from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—Cass Tuplin gets a call from Gary Kellett. A call about an actual dead person: Gary’s daughter, killed in a car crash. Gary’s adamant it wasn’t an accident. Cass agrees to investigate. After all, not just Rusty Bore’s only purveyor of fine fast food, Cass is also the closest thing to a private detective within a couple of hundred k’s. The local police (Cass’s son Dean) try to warn her off. It’s true Cass’s status as a celebrated yet non-licensed nobody doesn’t entirely suit Dean. But Dean also believes Gary’s a delusional, grieving father. Is that the case? Or did a young journalist die after asking too many questions? Cass intends to find out. As soon as she’s dealt with some queries raised by the reappearance of Leo Stone.Sue Williams is a science writer and chartered accountant who also holds a PhD in marine biology. She lives in...

'I believe that nothing is impossible if you dare to dream, plan and take action. I'm an ordinary girl who simply refused to give up on a dream, and that's all it takes to succeed in life.' Alyssa Azar is unstoppable. When she was just eight years old, she walked the gruelling Kokoda Track, the youngest person in the world to do so. At twelve she climbed the ten highest peaks in Australia. Two years later she touched the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, at the age of nineteen, she has reached the roof of the world: the summit of Mount Everest. The Girl Who Climbed Everest is the inspiring story of how an ordinary girl from country Queensland worked towards ascending the world's highest peak. Through passion, determination and immense hard work, and despite being turned back twice - once by a deadly avalanche and the second time by a devastating earthquake that nearly claimed her life - Alyssa is the youngest Australian to have achieved this extraordinary feat. She...

Horse-whispering, crocodile-hunting and single-handedly changing an 80-kilo flat tyre on a road train in 40-degree heat...there is nothing these modern-day outback women can't do. But when it comes to hardship and heartbreak, they've endured far more than their fair share. Living and working in some of the most remote spots in the world, they've had to become experts at turning tragedy into triumph. Our former Miss World finds a new start in the bush; an adventurer crosses one of the world's harshest deserts on camelback; a single mum becomes a truck driver to make ends meet and a former nurse takes over the famous Birdsville Hotel. This book is a tribute to the great Australian Outback from those who live and work at the heart of it. '[These women] simply took my breath away with the kind of courage, daring and resilience that have seen them overcome sometimes crushing difficulties.' Georgie Parker

A smart, sassy self-appointed private investigator, Cass Tuplin is unforgettable and the town of Rusty Bore will never be the same...Cass Tuplin's takeaway isn't the last shop left in Rusty Bore. There's also Vern's General Store. But it's true the town's not exactly overflowing with residents, and a stranger in Cass's shop is quite an event. Especially one like Clarence: suspicious, bleeding, looking for a burger with the lot and somewhere quiet to stay. Cass knows just the place. Then she finds out more about Clarence and wants him out of town, but it turns out that's not as easy as it sounds. And then she finds the body.It sounds like a job for the local police. Except that the local police is Cass's son Dean, who has his doubts about Cass. And there's no way he's expending police resources on his mother's fantasy crimes, not anymore.So it looks like Cass is going to have to find the killer on her own.Sue Williams is a refreshing and...

Father Bob Maguire is a man of passion, creativity and humour; he is part Billy Connolly, part angry Old Testament prophet and part compassionate Mother Theresa (he would hate this categorisation). But he has a unique combination of traits and in each he is a risk taker. He is an elusive chameleon, a man of brilliant riddles. His life story has not been told – or rather, he has told it in random pieces, for people to put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Sue Williams is the first person to attempt to capture his whole story. For 39 years, Father Bob was parish priest of Sts Peter and Paul church in South Melbourne, until his boss forced him to retire. From this base, and through his foundation, he worked, hands on, with the homeless, sick, criminal and addicted. He has had successes and failures. In his own words, Father Bob sees his work as a 'life-long attempt to empower teens, twenty-somethings and even children to be their unique selves ... unique...

Two young English tourists waylaid in the outback by a predatory stranger, a single gunshot, and then the darkness. Peter Falconio′s disappearance sparked one of the biggest manhunts and mysteries in Australia′s history. The only witness was Peter′s girlfriend, Joanne Lees, who was found wandering the highway, her hands bound in front of her and tape matted in her hair. The only clue was a pool of blood found by police at the back of the couple′s Kombi. Joanne′s account of her ordeal - the apparent murder of her partner, her binding and gagging, and her miraculous escape into the bush away from her burly attacker and his dog - provoked a frenzy of media interest and a huge police operation, but as clues to the attacker′s identity were few and far between and police blunders mounted, doubts about Joanne′s story began to surface. Was this seemingly innocent English backpacker a liar, after...