When the Music changes...So Does the Dance

This is a memoir set in the 60s when life was simpler, yet at the same time more complex. When a young country girl, eldest of seven children from a loving catholic family, at the tender age of 20, marries a local boy she is blissfully unaware of what the future has in store. Bit by bit, Margaret’s life is coming apart around her and she has no idea what to do. With no one able or willing to give the advice she needs, Margaret does all she can to keep her family together, but sometimes love and determination is not enough. Her story of how she survived the unmentionable cloud that threatened her marriage and her serenity and became the strong person she is today is told with warmth and humour. It is remarkable in its acceptance and lack of bitterness and gives an absorbing picture of the social mores of the late 60s and early 70s.

This is a memoir set in the 60s when life was simpler, yet at the same time more complex. When a young country girl, eldest of seven children from a loving catholic family, at the tender age of 20, marries a local boy she is blissfully unaware of what the future has in store. Her life is turned upside down when she discovers her husband is homosexual. In the 60s little is known about this subject and it is not discussed in public: myths and ignorance surround its existence. Consequently there is no help for those affected. The resulting secrecy and shame make life a nightmare for them both, eventually leading to tragedy. The journey she goes on is difficult on many levels, particularly emotionally at a time in Australian history when the subject of sexual difference is neither tolerated nor discussed. The courage she displays as she tries to determine the problem with her marriage and then cling to the inevitable impossibility of this union is heartbreaking, not only for herself but her husband as well. This secret they share results in the two of them being isolated from each other and other people, in fatal circumstances. The ensuing loneliness, hardship and incomprehension is raw and honest, building up to the final tragedy. Margaret’s story of how she survived the unmentionable cloud that threatened her marriage and her serenity and became the strong person she is today is told with warmth and humour. It is remarkable in its acceptance and lack of bitterness and gives an absorbing picture of the social mores of the late 60s and early 70s.

I have been working on my memoir in one form or another for a number of years, attending writing groups and workshops until finally I had a completed manuscript which I sent off to an assessment agency for an independent assessment. They were also running a contest - I got my assessment and then found I had won the contest. I have always loved to write stories, even as a young child. I live in a Sydney suburb in Australia, where my husband and I have run our small business for the last 32 years.