About the Event
To celebrate Love to Read Local Week, join us as Peter Burke discusses his latest novel The Silk Merchant’s Son.
Love to Read Local Week is a state-wide campaign by Writing WA showcasing and celebrating Western Australia’s many wonderful writers and illustrators, and the books they create.
About the Book
In 1845, linguistics professor Fabrice Cleriqout is dispatched from Lyon to the Swan River Colony, sent away with a box full of silkworms to stop him bringing more disgrace upon the family. Accompanying him aboard the Elizabeth are twenty-eight mismatched and misguided Catholic missionaries including Dom Salvado, who seeks to create a Spanish Benedictine monastery deep in the bush, and the Irish Sisters of Mercy, who are fleeing a dreadful famine. Given the job of distributing a huge donation from a wealthy benefactress, Fabrice bears witness to the folly of his travelling companions who presumptuous attempts to rescue the colony and the original inhabitants from themselves, can only lead to tragedy.
Author presentation 10.30am
Book sales and signing 11.30am
Morning Tea provided. Places limited. Bookings essential.
Please wait for confirmation email before attending the event.
About the Author
Peter Burke is a Perth doctor and writer of Western Australian historical fiction; his novels being enjoyed for their filmic quality and humour. Professionally, he divides his time between Murdoch University medical clinic and the hospitals of the Kimberley region of the Northwest. His first novel, The Drowning Dream, was shortlisted for both the Australian/Vogel Literary Award and the WA Premier’s Book Awards. The Silk Merchant’s Son is his third novel.
