The Briny Café (30 page)

There are many people who have helped with this book. Some stand out. My husband, Bob, whose quiet wisdom and sound advice to wear it away kept me going. Caroline Adams, who came in at the last minute, dished up some much-needed faith and saved me from some awful clangers with her insight, skill and endless tact. Toby Jay and Dave Shirley, who let me ride the waterways on their beautiful lighter,
Laurel Mae
, while they pulled masts, serviced moorings, delivered building supplies and patiently explained the intricacies of swivel bolts and bow rollers. Thanks too to Barbara (Bell) Viljoen and Chris Bell, who really did live in a boatshed over the water long ago, and who kindly shared their memories. I must admit, though, that I have embroidered, exaggerated and extended their stories for my own purposes and to turn it into fiction.

I have also written about the preparation of food hoping to inspire anyone who has never found joy in the kitchen to have a go. To me, food is central to the pleasures of life. This might be a good spot to reveal that the cooking method for Peking duck came from world-renowned chef Heston Blumenthal and I have never tried to make it myself. Not yet, anyway. The other recipes mentioned are favourites. Especially the lemon delicious pudding which I love after a Sunday roast
lamb. I must confess, too, that I have always yearned to run a seaside café. Now I've done it. Theoretically, at least.

Many thanks to Random House for its patience and to Beverley Cousins for her hard work in getting this book over the line. To Jo Jarrah, not just thanks, but gratitude.

To Heather and Cher. Two good women. Thanks for the laughs and for keeping the house on an even keel while I typed.

See you … on the water.

Cook's Basin does not exist. Nor does The Briny Café. Nor do any of the characters or events that I've written about. This is a work of fiction but it is, of course, a homage to Pittwater and the fabulously quirky people who make it such a wondrous place to live.

After a 25-year career spanning radio, newspaper and magazine journalism – including editing two of Australia's top-selling women's magazines,
The Australian Women's Weekly
and
New Idea
– Susan Duncan woke up one morning and chucked in her job. The decision followed the deaths of her husband and brother. After struggling to begin again, she finally found her own patch of paradise on earth, only to discover it might already be too late when she was diagnosed with cancer herself.

Today Susan lives with her second husband, Bob, on the shores of Pittwater at Tarrangaua, the beautiful home built for poet Dorothea Mackellar in 1925.

Susan's memoir,
Salvation Creek
, and its sequel,
The House at Salvation Creek
, were huge bestsellers. Susan is also the author of the beautifully illustrated coffee-table book,
A Life on Pittwater
.
The Briny Café
is her first novel.

 

Coming soon!
The sequel to THE BRINY CAFÉ!

 

GONE FISHING

by Susan Duncan

For bargeman Sam Scully, life in Cook's Basin is nothing short of paradise. A wonderland of golden sand and turquoise waters, battered old tinnies and wonky pontoons, it's a realm unspoilt by the modern world.

But then a notice goes up in the Square that screams ‘EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT!'

Paradise is about to be ripped apart.

With plans underway to build a flash resort in the heart of their community, the residents leap into action - with Sam as their leader, and a twelve-foot papier-mache cockatoo as their mascot . . . But it's never going to be easy to turn the tide of ‘progress'.

Meanwhile there's trouble brewing at the Briny Café. Kate Jackson is struggling to come to terms with the dreadful secret spilled on her mother's deathbed. And as for Kate's co-owner, Ettie Brookbank… Well, what
is
happening to Ettie?

Gone Fishing
, the sequel to the bestselling
The Briny Café
, is a heart-warming, inspirational novel about taking a stand against all the odds.

AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER 2013

There's so much more at
randomhouse.com.au