The Country Wife

Description

When she is five, Anne Gorman s family disintegrates. After thirteen pregnancies and the death of two children, her devout Catholic mother has a breakdown and Anne and her sisters are placed in a convent. Struggling to survive a childhood marred by fear and uncertainty, Anne sees education as her lifeline to freedom. After graduating from university, she s set to take on the world. But her plans come unstuck when she falls in love. Marrying a farmer and becoming a mother of five was a life she never imagined. Yet in this alien landscape she finds love and a sense of belonging. When her husband becomes gravely ill, Anne has to find the courage to keep the farm and her family afloat. Against a backdrop of dramatic historic change, from the shadow of war to the rise of feminism, an uncertain young girl grows into a woman of substance.

Anne Gorman was born in Mudgee, the eleventh child in her family. After graduating from Sydney University with a BA and a post graduate degree in Medical Social Work, her career plans hadn t factored in her decision to marry a farmer and move to a sheep and wheat property in the Riverina. When her husband became gravely ill, Anne had to take up thereins to keep the property afloat and bring up their five children alone. She later went on to have a long and highly successful professional career, including serving as Head of the Australian Government s task force for International Year of the Child to the United Nations. In 2003 she established The Institute of Executive Coaching with an American partner. Her clients included Telstra, BHP, ANZ and state and federal government departments. This is her first book.