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1880s: On a lighthouse in the Australian cape…..isolation breeds many things…
Skylarking
What you need to know before your trail
Kate and Harriet are best friends growing up together on an isolated Australian cape. As the daughters of the lighthouse keepers, the two girls share everything, until a fisherman, McPhail, arrives in their small community.
When Kate witnesses the desire that flares between him and Harriet, she is torn by her feelings of envy and longing. An innocent moment in McPhail’s hut then occurs that threatens to tear their peaceful community apart.
Inspired by a true story, Skylarking is a spellbinding tale of friendship and desire, memory and truth, which questions what it is to remember and how tempting it can be to forget.
Travel Guide
Cape St George, NSW
This is a story inspired by true events. In the author notes:
“ Skylarking is a work of fiction, based on the true story of Harriet Parker . . . her best friend, Kate Gibson, . . . the hut of Donald McPhail at Cape St George in 1887. I came upon this story while camping with dear friends . . . at Greenpatch camping ground in Jervis Bay, New South Wales.”
The novel is a fictionalised account of what could have happened on that day. The remoteness of a lighthouse, the claustrophobic small community and the lives of girls who are at first close to one another and then split apart as so many friends growing up are. When an outsider comes to a small community, many things change and the dynamics of that community can change. Once the tide goes out, the pattern of the sands has changed forever. This story captures that and more.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Skylarking
Author/Guide Kate Mildenhall Destination: Jervis Bay Departure Time: 1880s
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