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Kate Grenville was in conversation at the Australia and New Zealand Festival of Literature and Arts in London on Saturday 30th May, 2015.
The great pleasure in being a bookseller and publisher is the opportunity to hear, and develop a wider understanding of, great authors and their work.
Kate’s new book One Life, has just been published with Canongate Books. It is the story about her mother Nance, born in 1912 in New South Wales.
A remarkable story, not because Nance became famous or wealthy, but because the story is about a woman growing up in a harsh family in Australia in the 1920’s and onwards.
After training as a pharmacist, she went to work in a local chemist and learnt much more about life than dispensing drugs.
Kate Grenville has a remarkable way of telling a story and after a few minutes of conversations and readings from One Life, it felt that we knew this woman Nance, her character of directness and ambition, striving to do all she could to make the most of life. As a young girl this was not easy at that time, but her determination was unstoppable!
It was a schoolteacher who changed her life and Mr Crisp, left her with a love of literature. Nance instilled in Kate a love of words, Nance had poetry in her mind and was able to deliver apposite quotes just when needed.
This was an amazing chance to listen to Kate Grenville and also hear about the very special book, The Secret River. 
So now to read the book, One Life, from the opening pages it will be a book that will be hard to put down.
Check out the website for further conversations and adventures at the Aus and NZ Fest with lots of exciting authors.
Sue Martin