Combining biography with historical events and social history, Jacinta Crealy has used fiction to breathe life into the story of her great-grand-aunt, Alice – a story that had been lost to time.

Alice was born in 1857, the third of eleven children to her English father and Scottish mother. Her young years were in Tarraville, South Gippsland, the remote gold rush town of Stockyard Creek and a farm near the bustling rural town of Bairnsdale. In 1880, Alice married Robert McKimmie in Tasmania. So began a life of trial and adventure that required sheer grit. Alice and Robert ran a pub in Launceston and lived in Gladstone and Zeehan, places that sprang up in response to exciting mineral discoveries. Surviving fires, crimes, disease and childbirth were challenges, with doctors rarely available and hospitals only accessible in the cities. 

At the heart of Alice’s story is family, her husband and children and her family of origin. Alice welcomed all and reached out to her community whenever people were in need, a compassionate woman who was loved in these places she called home.