Author Sue Williams shares the inspiration behind her latest page-turning historical fiction.
From the bestselling author of Elizabeth & Elizabeth and That Bligh Girl, comes another fascinating story of female friendship, betrayal and triumphs based on historical events.
Author Sue Williams pens a short piece for us about the human drama that inspired her to write about Philip Gidley King and his relationships.
I'm always drawn to the human drama of events, and Australian history is full of them.
But nowhere is there a more fascinating story of love, lust, betrayal and ambition than with our third Governor (after Arthur Phillip and John Hunter), Philip Gidley King. In some ways, he was an extraordinarily far-sighted leader—resilient, innovative and bold—who made a massive contribution to the country that Australia became. But in matters of the human heart, he left a great deal to be desired.
He went to New South Wales with his mentor, Phillip, on the First Fleet and like the captain, showed real humanity to the convict women on board. After arrival in Sydney, he was ordered to set up a second colony on remote, jungle-clad Norfolk Island, and, for that task, he had his pick of the convict women and took five. One, Ann Inett, became his housekeeper and then his lover, and the pair had two sons, Norfolk and Sydney.
Gidley King was then sent back to Britain to report on the new colonies, and Ann begged him to return to her and their sons. He promised he would but when, two years later, he indeed returned, it was in the company of a new wife, who was heavily pregnant.
This heartbreaking situation captivated me. How would Ann have reacted? What did the new wife say? How did Gidley King manage the situation? He then tried to take the two sons from Ann to bring up himself with his wife . . . What was the relationship between the two women in his life like? It became a thrilling, and spellbinding, tale, played out against in the massive canvas of creating a new nation, full of mutinies, power plays, natural disasters and human foibles.
The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress
by Sue Williams
A story of tangled love affairs, female friendship, twisted loyalties, betrayals, hardship, male infidelity, and the tragedies and triumphs of life in a new land.
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