Rather than offer Rose Dee a standard interview, I asked her to share part of her life with us – either a story about how she met her partner, a story about how she became a Christian, or a story of heritage from her family’s past. Rose offered an interesting story about her grandfather. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
What might have been …
I was recently reminded of this interesting anecdote from my family history. It is the story of the friendship between my grandfather (Gerald Venables) and Sir Arthur Fadden (who was the Prime Minister briefly in 1941). The story goes like this:
Arty wanted my grandfather to go into politics. According to all accounts, this was a very appealing prospect to Gerry Venables. He was an entrepreneurial business man, and the thought of national service appealed to his learned mind. Arty offered him a ‘sure’ seat in New South Wales. Gerry was thrilled. However, he had one stumbling block. His wife Nellie was determined not to go. With seven children to raise, she refused to pack up her life and trek south. Gerry’s dreams of political service were squashed in one foul, female swoop. Instead his legacy lies in the family he reared in Ingham, North Queensland.
This story made me think a lot about history. All the technicalities, dates of births, deaths, and marriages don’t come down to specific happenings; they all come down to people. I am very pleased that my grandmother was determined to thwart my grandfather’s plans. Chances are I may not be here if she hadn’t. But it reminded me that it is people, their lives, and the decisions they made that make up history. Not a timeline of dates and specifics from textbooks and family trees.
That’s why I love reading historic novels. The best ones aren’t about historic events, but about people and the lives they led. Okay, so I write contemporary fiction, but I do love a good historic novel as well. Please support our Aussie historic writers. They do a great job of converting these known events into engaging tales of lives, loves, and losses.
Thanks Rose, for sharing this story with us. Rose’s next release, another in the Resolution series, is due for release in April this year. Keep an eye out for it! For now, here is the back cover blurb:
Samara lives a life filled with fear. After being discarded and beaten by her trouble making boyfriend, she takes one easy out after another. Her choices lead her down the road of self-destruction, into the degrading world of stripping and a life spent looking over her shoulder. Until an encounter with a stranger on a Kings Cross Street provides the catalyst for a life changing event that leads her back home.
Resolution is the last place in the world Jed wants to be. One drastic decision has led him to the Island resort and back into strained contact with his brother, Flynn.
From the bright lights of Sydney to the blue waters of Resolution Island, Beyond Resolution is a story that provides a window into the joy of forgiveness, trust and peace.
Romancing The Rock 
It’s always interesting to consider how things might have turned out. I love historical and contemporary novels alike. Rose, I’m wondering whether your grandfather passed his interest in politics on to you. I’d been typing my dad’s family history for him and had a similar thought when I read how close his father came to death in the war several times. All the unborn children wouldn’t have known how close they came to not being born.
Thanks, Amanda and Rose
That sounds like an interesting story, Paula. We’ll have to remember that when I do the same for your next novel. 🙂 I’ve never been very interested in politics – it just makes me, well, bleh. I do concede that it is a necessary evil though. 🙂
Paula, you are very intuitive. My father had strong political views (passed on from my grandfather), and so do I. My husband often tells me (kindly) to ‘get off my soapbox’. I get really excited about political events, but there are two pieces of advice about politics I will never forget. One is passed down from my grandfather (and father):
‘Politics is a service to the people. You have to be called to serve.’
And the second is from my uncle who was mayor of Innisfail for many years:
‘In politics you have to be willing to say no to your friends and yes to your enemies.’
With these in mind, I don’t know that I will ever enter into political service.
I don’t have the calling.
Hey Rose, I am truly grateful to your Grandmother for allowing us to have you in our lives…All the ‘what if’s’ make for interesting thoughts for each of us…..where would we be without our dreams… looking forward to ‘Beyond Resolution’….