Burnie writer Marjorie Davey publishes first novel at age 95
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A Tasmanian writer of short stories has published her first novel at the age of 95.
Most people who live into their 90s are probably happy to sit and look back on their lives; reflecting on the highs and lows, thoughts of what might have been, paths not ventured down and checking off that bucket list.
Burnie writer Marjorie Davey has had a full life, mostly lived on the state's north-west coast but had another box to tick as she approached her mid-90s.
The publication of her first full length novel is the culmination of a long literary life filled with magazine articles, short stories and poetry.
Mrs Davey is a life member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and has held positions with the organisation's Tasmanian branch.
She began writing in her teenage years, with one of her early pieces winning a competition in Darwin, beating 1,000 other contestants.
"As soon as I could write, I was writing stories," she said before her book launch in Hobart.
But after putting writing ambitions on hold to raise seven children, Mrs Davey made up for lost time publishing many short stories and articles over the years, including some with Oxford University Press.
Hardship and hope in tale of convict boys
The story she reserved for her first novel which has finally been published in her 90s is about young lives.
The historical fiction Never to Return tells the stories of English boys sent across the world to a harsh, isolated prison in the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land.
Point Puer near Port Arthur was set up as the first purpose-built reforming prison for boys sentenced for crimes, sometimes as minor as pick-pocketing.
"These children, some as young as nine years old ... were sent to a harsh, foreign land never return to their own country," she said.
"It made me want to tell their story, albeit a fictional one.
"I've been interested in history always and that is part of our history which will be forgotten.
"It just fascinated me. I'd been around the site at Point Puer and I thought 'this is where it all happened'."
Of the thousands of boys the prison housed between 1834 and 1848, only three managed to escape.
"I know boys don't like being confined like that, I've got three of my own," Mrs Davey said.
"I suppose they were better off being brought up here than in England.
"They were taught to read and write and a lot of famers wanted cheap labour of course.
"I think a lot of them, tradesmen, took them under their wing, they learnt things they would not have had in England."
Fred awakened in the darkness. Just a storm, he thought, as the vessel dipped again, seeming hell-bent on diving headfirst to the bottom of the sea. The violent pitching had woken him. Now, that he was fully awake he could anticipate the moment when the ship would begin to right itself, creaking and groaning in all its ancient timbers. It would rise with each mighty roller, pause, then that fearful descent. But it'll come up again, he comforted himself. It always has.
Excerpt from Never to Return
Historical story resonates in current times
Although it is a work of fiction, Mrs Davey's story has elements of fact.
It focuses on 13-year-old convict Fred Smith and his bid to join his uncle in Victoria.
Woven into the plot is the bid by Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur to round up the island's Aboriginal inhabitants under an operation called the Black Line.
"His [Fred's] companion during the walk to freedom is a young Aboriginal boy who has been displaced and lost his family due to the notorious Black Line," Mrs Davey said.
"An unlikely bond develops between the boys as they each learn lessons from the other and work together to survive and find freedom."
The book had many re-writes before the final version.
Occasionally, I still write. Give me a pen and I'll start to write.
Marjorie Davey
"It's been in my head for 20 years but to get it published, two years. It was just a matter of getting it down on paper," Mrs Davey said.
"The Aborigines were far worse off than the boys, they didn't have much of a go," she said.
The overall message from the novel is one of hope and she believes the tales of survival have wider resonance in today's world, particularly in the journey of asylum seekers.
"What is occurring within some countries today with people being displaced and desperate to escape for a better life and freedom ... who face possible incarceration in a foreign land for unknown periods of time ... makes this story of survival and the overwhelming desire for freedom over incarceration as relevant now as it was for those boys then."
Wish to see novel used in schools
Mrs Davey was also motivated to tell the tale because while much has been recorded about Port Arthur and the women's prisons, not as much has been written on the boys' plight.
She hopes it will be used in the school curriculum to open the eyes of young readers to the history on their doorstep.
"It is my hope that readers of all ages ... will come away with knowledge and understanding of the reality of these convict children's lives, of the extreme hardship ... the importance of having a goal to keep your mind strong, determination to survive, to be educated and learn from others."
Mrs Davey, who enrolled in a university degree at 94, said she was not putting her pen away just yet and may even have another book to write.
"I'd like to think so, but I'm 96 on the first of April."
"Occasionally, I still write. Give me a pen and I'll start to write."
Topics: books-literature, history, history-education, port-arthur-7182
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