Welcome to my newsletter for November 2025 where I share news about my books, my latest blog posts, and upcoming events.
My latest book, Ashes and Sakura, is now available. This is a companion novel to An Attractive Naivety. You can buy it from Ed at the Woodend Bookshop (let's support our local booksellers!), if you live in the Macedon Ranges, or online at Booktopia and Amazon. See my website at Nihil Alienum for more information and a list of locations.
I would like to thank all of you who have posted ratings and reviews on my two books on Goodreads. That is much appreciated. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. If you haven't yet left a review and rating, I would encourage you to do so as it is helpful for promotion. It only takes a minute or so. See Goodreads for links to my two books.
Also please register for my (free) author's talk at the Woodend Library on 6 December 2025 at 10.30 am. Dr Matthew Gisborne and I will discuss some changes in the ways that everyday Australians saw themselves and others in the aftermath of WWII.
My two books will also be available to purchase at a discount price as ideal Christmas presents for your loved ones.
A huge thank you for your support,
David Gormley-O'Brien
Author talk at Woodend Library 10.30 am on Saturday 6 December
This companion to An Attractive Naivety is a story of duty, shame, and the fragile hope of making something good in the ruins.
Ashes and Sakura: An Australian story of the making of a Pacific nation.
In the aftermath of war, Tom and his sister Evelyn face very different reckonings. While Tom serves in occupied Japan, haunted by what he saw - and did - in New Guinea and Borneo, Evelyn defies her father and the judgement of a small-town community to find the Italian prisoner of war who fathered her child. Ashes and Sakura, a companion to An Attractive Naivety, is a story of duty, shame, and the fragile hope of making something good in the ruins.
Book sales and signings available.
Dr David Gormley-O'Brien is a writer and historian based in Woodend. Through historical fiction, he explores how the upheavals of the early 20th century shaped the ways Australians understood themselves and others.
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Latest blog: The Bridge jumpers
The opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the height of the Great Depression in March 1932 was a festive occasion for the young nation. Celebrations were short-lived when the bridge became a popular spot for suicide jumpers. It took nearly two years and almost 50 deaths for the reluctant Government to erect a safety barrier on the bridge's footways.
Books and blogs by David Gormley-O'Brien
Exploring the human aftermath of war, migration, and Australian national identity through historical fiction.