McKINLEY, Tamara

PERSONAL:

Born in Australia; married, husband's name Oliver; children: three.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Great Britain. Agent—c/o Piatkus Books, 5 Windmill Street, London, England, W1T 2JA.

CAREER:

Author.

WRITINGS:

Matilda's Last Waltz, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Jacaranda Vines, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Windflowers, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2002.

Summer Lightning, Piatkus Books (London), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tamara McKinley was born and raised in Australia and adopted by her grandmother. She was sent to England to complete her education and continues to live in Great Britain, although the setting of her romance novels is her homeland of Australia.

Her first book, Matilda's Last Waltz, is told through the eyes of Jenny Sanders, a young widow who has not only recently lost her husband but has also tragically suffered the death of her son. In an attempt at emotional healing, she decides to leave her familiar setting and lose herself on an old sheep ranch that her husband left to her in his will. The place she goes to, in the wilds of the Australian Outback, is called Churinga. Jenny, who has lived in the city all of her life, finds existence at Churinga to be very difficult. In an attempt to forget her sorrows, however, she distracts herself with the mystery of the previous owner, Matilda Thomas.

Jenny's distant neighbors in the wide open and thinly populated Outback are somewhat friendly toward her, but not very willing to talk about the past, holding back details about Matilda that Jenny tries to pry from them. Their silence intrigues Jenny even more. One day she discovers an old diary written by Matilda. As she reads it she becomes both drawn to the woman and somewhat repulsed, for Matilda's reminiscing turns out to be more bizarre than Jenny could have imagined. She finds she cannot resist reading the diary, however, and in time, her life and Matilda's begin to reflect one another's. "The more she reads," wrote Susan Clifford Braun for Library Journal, "the more her life grows strangely and increasingly entwined with Matilda." Braun found this story to be reminiscent of The Thorn Birds, another story with an Australian background, and she complimented McKinley's writing for its "strong and real" characters.

Jacaranda Vines focuses on the family of Jock Witney, who built a large and successful winery in Australia that fell into shambles by the end of his life. His heirs must now decide what to do with the vineyard. The family has been offered hundreds of millions of dollars for the business, but they cannot agree on the future of Jacaranda Vines. Cordelia, Jock's often abused, ninety-year-old wife, surprisingly wants to keep the winery. In an attempt to sway some of her family members into agreeing with her decision, Cordelia invites one of the major players in the family discussion, her granddaughter Sophie, on a trip through the Outback. During their journey, Cordelia not only tries to persuade Sophie, she also relates a long history of the family through stories and revelations of long-held secrets. Jacaranda Vines is a story of seven generations that begins in the 1830s and continues to contemporary times.

Booklist reviewer Carol Haggas hailed Jacaranda Vines as a "powerful, multigenerational saga." A writer for Publishers Weekly, however, felt that the book was formulaic and burdened with poorly drawn characters. Library Journal contributor Susan Clifford Braun, on the other hand, concluded that the story would be loved for its colorful characters, its "sharp historical detail," and its "action and passion."

McKinley's third novel, Windflowers, recounts the story of Claire Pearson and her strained relations with her family. Claire is a successful veterinarian and has lived in Sydney for five years. But her family is in the throes of a conflict, and she returns home to help as much as she can. Claire had left home after a dispute over a mysterious gravestone on the family homeland. Upon her return she tries to answer some of the questions that have been bothering her since she left. The most interesting character in this novel, wrote a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, is the "dry, dusty stretches of land dotted with cattle stations." Neal Wyatt in Booklist, enjoyed the people in McKinley's book, stating that he found her characters to be "restrained and controlled," but he also wrote that it is the description of the landscape and the details about the difficulties encountered in trying to make a living in the Outback that provide the most interest in this story. Wyatt concluded that this novel is a "two-tiered tale." It is a story about the love of the country as well as for the people who live in it. The book's "narrative sweep and evocative sense of place," wrote a critic for Kirkus Reviews, are elements that make this story work well.

Summer Lightning, McKinley's fourth novel, presents another family saga. Miriam Strong is a seventy-five-year-old woman who is about to celebrate her birthday and a reunion of her family. But as the relatives come together, the backdrop of family secrets emerges. There is a question of family inheritance, and a love story for one of Miriam's granddaughters. Another granddaughter must find the courage to face some daunting mystery that will, when unraveled, change her life.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2001, Carol Haggas, review of Jacaranda Vines,, p. 548; October 15, 2002, Neal Wyatt, review of Windflowers, p. 388.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Windflowers, p. 1255.

Library Journal, August 2000, Susan Clifford Braun, review of Matilda's Last Waltz, p. 154; November 15, 2001, Susan Clifford Braun, review of Jacaranda Vines, pp. 97-98.

Publishers Weekly, October 22, 2001, review of Jacaranda Vines, p. 46; November 4, 2002, review of Windflowers, p. 63.*