Peter Watt Boeken

Het goud van Papua is het eerste deel in een episch tweeluik waarvan het tweede deel, Schaduw over Eden , in 2005 bij Karakter Uitgevers zal verschijnen. Het is een groots opgezet epos vol dramatiek, uiteenlopende personages en settings, met noodlottige wendingen en gewone mensen wier leven bepaald wordt door de grote historische gebeurtenissen van hun tijd als oorlog, goudkoorts en politieke systemen. Met als centrale punt twee mannen van wie het leven door het toeval onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden wordt en wier families generatie na generatie met elkaar te maken zullen hebben. Als Jack Kelly, een kapitein in het Australische leger, in de loopgraven van de Eerste Wereldoorlog genade betoont aan zijn gevangen Paul Mann, een dappere en hoge Duitse officier, ontstaat er een band tussen deze zo verschillende mannen. Als de Grote Oorlog voorbij is, keren beiden terug naar hun vroeger levens, maar ze komen al snel tot de ontdekking dat tijdens hun afwezigheid hun wereld veranderd is. In Australië is Jack opeens alleen verantwoordelijk voor de vierjarige Lukas, die hij nog nooit gezien heeft. Hij brengt Lukas onder bij zijn zuster Mary wanneer hij zich door zijn vroegere Engelse strijdmakker George Spencer laat overhalen om de jungle van Papua in te trekken: hijzelf om goud te zoeken en de Engelsman om studie te doen naar de wilde volkeren. Maar de expeditie verloopt rampzalig: George wordt door de wilden vermoord en Jack keert zonder goud terug naar de bewoonde wereld... Paul Mann is teruggekomen in een berooid Duitsland dat prooi is van allerlei twijfelachtige politieke stromingen. Zijn jongere zuster Erika is volledig in de ban van de Oostenrijker Adolf Hitler en doet alles voor diens zaak.. Maar Paul besluit met zijn gezin te emigreren naar Papua, waar hij de familieplantage die de Australische regering kort daarvoor heeft onteigend, terug kan kopen. Maar helaas, bij aankomst op het nieuwe continent blijkt het aanbod ingetrokken en de familie moet op een andere manier aan de kost zien te komen. In Townsville in het noorden van Australië, in het huis van de rijke Chinese zakenman Sen, lopen Jack en Paul elkaar weer tegen het lijf en daar worden ze mates voor het leven...

Lachlan, John and Phoebe MacDonald, three young children tragically separated after the massacre at the Ballarat goldfields, try to make their way in a world filled with poverty and war.John is determined to find his lost siblings and meanwhile works hard to make a name for himself. A business partnership leads to riches and rewards that he never dreamed of.Lachlan has always known what it is to struggle for survival. But even a life of bare knuckle fighting and destitution cannot prepare him for the war he finds himself in against the Maori of New Zealand, nor the feelings he has for his Commanding Officer's sister.Phoebe barely remembers what it is to have a family and yearns for a love that will make her feel complete, and a home to call her own.Three tales of courage, hope and forbidden love set against the backdrop of the New Zealand Maori wars and an emerging Australian nation.

"It is1857. Colonial India is a simmering volcano of nationalism about to erupt. Army surgeon Peter Campbell and his wife Alice, in India on their honeymoon, have no idea that they are about to be swept up in the chaos. Ian Steele, known to all as Captain Samuel Forbes, is fighting for Queen and country in Persia. A world away, the real Samuel Forbes is planning to return to London - with potentially disastrous consequences for Samuel and Ian both. Then Ian is posted to India, but not before a brief return to England and a reunion with the woman he loves. In India he renews his friendship with Peter Campbell, and discovers that Alice has taken on a most unlikely role. Together they face the enemy and the terrible deprivations and savagery of war - and then Ian receives news from London that crushes all his hopes... " -- Back cover

From the battlefields of Sudan to colonial Sydney and the Queensland outback, a dreadful curse still inextricably links the lives of the Macintoshes and Duffys. Captain Patrick Duffy is a man torn between the family of his father, Irish Catholic soldier-of-fortune Michael Duffy and his adoring, scheming maternal grandmother, Enid Mackintosh. Visiting the village of his Irish forbears on a quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, Patrick is beguiled by the beautiful, mysterious Catherine Fitzgerald. On the rugged Queensland frontier Native Mounted Police trooper Peter Duffy is torn between his duty, the blood of his mother's people - the Nerambura tribe - and a predestined deadly duel with Gordon James, the love of his sister Sarah. Flight of the Eagle is the stunning conclusion to the trilogy featuring the bestselling Cry of the Curlew and Shadow of the Osprey, and shows master storyteller Peter Watt at the height of his powers.

The story follows Josiah Steele, son of a legendary captain, as he navigates the challenges of living up to his father's legacy. From the goldfields of Queensland to the prestigious Sandhurst military academy in England, he encounters a mix of new and old acquaintances that shape his journey. The narrative spans diverse settings, including the Australian bush, the opulence of London, and the battlefields of Afghanistan, as Josiah grapples with his identity and strives to carve out his own destiny amidst the backdrop of 19th-century militarism.

Set against the backdrop of 1863, the story intertwines the lives of Ian Steele, who assumes the identity of Captain Samuel Forbes while battling the Pashtun in India, and the real Forbes, engaged in the Civil War in Tennessee. Meanwhile, Ella, Ian's love, struggles in her marriage to Count Nikolai Kasatkin and seeks to reclaim their son. As Ian faces challenges in New Zealand and the agreement between him and Forbes nears its end, their hopes for the future are threatened by a relentless adversary.

Set in 1857 colonial India, the story follows army surgeon Peter Campbell and his wife Alice during their honeymoon, unaware of the impending chaos of nationalism. Ian Steele, also known as Captain Samuel Forbes, is fighting in Persia while grappling with his own personal challenges. Upon being posted to India, Ian reconnects with Peter and discovers Alice's unexpected role in the conflict. Together, they confront the brutal realities of war, while Ian faces devastating news from London that threatens his future.

Sometimes the fate for which you are destined is not your own...1845, a village outside Sydney Town. Humble blacksmith Ian Steele struggles to support his widowed mother. All the while he dreams of a life in uniform, serving in Queen Victoria's army. 1845, Puketutu, New Zealand. Second Lieutenant Samuel Forbes, a young poet from an aristocratic English family, wants nothing more than to discard the officer's uniform he never sought. When the two men cross paths in the colony of New South Wales, they are struck by their brotherly resemblance and quickly hatch a plan for Ian to take Samuel's place in the British army. Ian must travel to England, fool the treacherous Forbes family and accept a commission into their regiment as a company commander in the bloody Crimean war...but he will soon learn that there are even deadlier enemies close to home.

Quando nel 1862 il ricco allevatore Donald Macintosh ordina di allontanare con la forza la tribù dei Nerabura da alcuni terreni per potersene impadronire e finalmente destinarli al pascolo, non immagina certo di aver messo in moto un'inarrestabile, tragica catena di eventi. Lo scontro fra aborigeni e polizia a cavallo sfocia in un vero e proprio massacro, nel corso del quale Wallarie per difendersi uccide Angus Macintosh, figlio di Donald. Testimoni involontari di tanta crudeltà sono il mandriano di origine irlandese Patrick Duffy, che in nome della libertà prende le difese di Wallarie rimettendoci la vita, e suo figlio Tom. I Duffy hanno perso il capofamiglia, i Macintosh l'erede predestinato: tra i grandi clan non può che germogliare il seme dell'odio.