This poignant memoir captures the challenges, joys and ultimate love one migrant has for her new country
GEELONG, Australia, May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Experience the migrant journey through the eyes of Margaret Zeegers as she navigates life in 1950s Australia in "Sailing on a Cusp and a Prayer" (published by Xlibris AU). This memoir sheds light on the experiences of migrant families, highlighting the similarities between their lives and those of Australian families at the time.
"Arriving in what is probably the best country in the world, there was much that we had to negotiate and accommodate. But so did Australians in their learning to live with us," the author states.
From negotiating cultural differences to building a new life, Zeegers captures the challenges and joys of living in a new country. Here, she provides a snapshot of working class life in a country parish in Australia, personalized so that it presents life in the extraordinary circumstances of the six-year span covered. The stories and anecdotes embedded within the pages will amuse and engage the reader interested in history, culture, and the migrant experience.
An excerpt from the book reads:
Both fathers gave a second chuckle, louder this time, at my childish fancy that one such as I would ever have something like this bought for her. I was mortified in a way that only a little girl could be. I had not asked for shoes in the first place, had not suggested pretty black patent leather pumps as my preferred option, and had been effectively ambushed by Mr Randolph Scott's showing off his capacity to provide the finest quality goods to the finest quality people of the town.
"Sailing on a Cusp and a Prayer" is now available for purchase on major book retailers. For more information, visit https://www.xlibris.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/858273-sailing-on-a-cusp-and-a-prayer.
"Sailing on a Cusp and a Prayer"
By Margaret Zeegers
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 352 pages | ISBN 9798369495384
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 352 pages | ISBN 9798369495377
E-Book | 352 pages | ISBN 9798369495360
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Margaret Zeegers, PhD, came to Australia as a young child in the 1950s, part of a large migrant family who still had to learn the new language and ways of life. This is the story of her and her family in country Victoria at that time. She tells how she learned to love this strange new country as she negotiated people, customs and systems, growing up in what is undoubtedly the best country in the world, and eventually to write all about it in this book. The migrant experience is rendered through the eyes of her as a young child, who has a keen eye for not only what happens to and around her, but also a talent for shrewd commentary on what she experiences. She represents her experience of change as a many-featured thing, where established residents were as much subject to the changes wrought by the great influx of newcomers as the newcomers were changed themselves. It made for quite a life. And she ended up getting those letters after her name.
Xlibris Publishing Australia, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider dedicated to serving Australian authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibrispublishing.com.au or call 1-800-844-927 to receive a free publishing guide.
Media Contact
Marketing Services, XlibrisAU, 1-800-844-927, [email protected], www.xlibris.com/en-au
SOURCE XlibrisAU
Share this article