The Woman on the Mountain (22 page)

Exisle Publishing is proud to introduce the Hourglass series. Hourglass books feature the true stories of ordinary women who have lived extraordinary lives. They are as varied as the women who love reading them, from the passionate and heart-wrenching to the humorous and uplifting, and range widely across continents and lifestyles. But they have one thing in common: they are all superb stories offering great reading.

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Judith McNeil has lived a life that few of us can begin to imagine. She has faced tragedy and heartache, experienced crippling poverty and hunger and suffered unforgivable violence. But she has emerged a survivor, a woman with an indomitable will and the courage and resourcefulness to forge a new life for herself against all odds.

The death of Judy’s father in a railway accident when she is only fourteen triggers a chain of events that will lead her first to the slums of Sydney and ultimately to far-flung Singapore and Malaya. Here, she finds friendship in the company of an Indian servant, love in the arms of a jungle warrior and hope in the laughter of her children.

Set against the backdrop of the political upheaval and widespread racial violence that swept through Singapore and Malaya in the early 1960s,
The Girl with the Cardboard Port
takes you into a world that few Europeans would have encountered. From glittering society balls to the isolation of a Malay kampong, from riches to poverty, Judy experiences a world of contrasts, often living in fear for her life and those of her children. And through it all, she has only one dream: to return home to Australia.

Raw and compelling, her story will linger in your mind long after the final page.

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Born into an ordinary family on the edge of the Baltic Sea, Louise Fox grew up to a life dominated by Nazism. As a teenager she was drafted into military service for the Nazis and sent to Berlin, where she unexpectedly found herself working as Herman Goering’s secretary, organising supplies for the Luftwaffe. In the last days of the Reich, Louise ended up with members of the Nazi elite administration in Berchtesgaden where she was arrested and interrogated by the Americans. She escaped and walked across a Germany fully ravaged by Nazi deprivations, Allied bombings and the destruction of invading armies. After numerous adventures, including further arrests and black market dealing, she made it to safety in the north.

Later Louise accepted an offer to travel to Australia and lived happily for many years in Tasmania, selling Volkswagens for a living. But when tragedy and illness struck, Louise was driven to desperation and lived on the streets of Launceston, sick and penniless. Finally rescued by a perceptive nurse, she received the treatment she needed. Her recovery was followed by an introduction to the man who was to be the love of her life: Ron Johnson had a surprising secret but he and Louise were to stay together for the next twenty years until his death. Now in her eighties, Louise has rebuilt her life and enjoys a quiet lifestyle on Australia’s Gold Coast.

For the first time, the full story of Louise’s extraordinary life can now be told. Her experiences of living under one of the most appalling yet fascinating regimes in history have a fresh authenticity, and she offers first-hand observations of leading Nazis, including Adolf Hitler himself.

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Living alone on a remote mountain would not be every woman’s choice. In fact, Sharyn Munro has so often been asked, ‘Why do you live there?’ that she decided to write a book as her answer.
The Woman on the Mountain
is the resulting lyrically written account of her journey towards a sustainable and truly rewarding lifestyle in her beloved mountain forests, where she has ‘only’ the abundant wildlife for company.

That decades-long journey was no smooth, planned passage, but a stumble over setbacks, propelled by almost accidental decisions. After the ups and downs of relationships, single parenting, and an unlikely variety of jobs, at 55 she found herself alone—in the bush. Unsure whether she could manage the hard work and mechanical demands of a self-sufficient lifestyle, she nevertheless gave it a go—and mostly succeeds.

She has also learnt to live in tune with nature on her wildlife refuge, despite the occasional discordant note, helping to repair past damage and trying to do no more. ‘Civilised conservation’ she calls it, ‘having your cake and eating it too—before the wallabies do.’

With increasing numbers of people longing for a simpler life,
The Woman on the Mountain
reveals what can be achieved when vision and passion are combined with a little hard work, a lot of adaptability—and a dash of humour.

Sharyn Munro is a freelance writer as well as an award-winning short-story writer, and regularly contributes nonfiction pieces to ABC Radio National’s
Bush Telegraph
program. She lives in a solar-powered mudbrick cabin on her mountain wildlife refuge in the New South Wales Hunter Valley. Here she is regenerating her property’s vegetation, at a pace dictated by ageing knees. Mother of two, grandmother of two, she is also a late-blooming environmental activist, at a pace dictated by concern for their futures. This is her first book.