Prisoners of Silence

Set in 1950s Ballarat and Melbourne, this absorbing story based on characters and real events in the author's life, is interspersed with humour and music. It follows the challenges of a talented, but naïve teenager struggling to find her own path.

The harrowing subjugation and abuse of children in a church-dominated society is clearly manifest in this story of sexual assault, resultant pregnancy, and forced adoption. Significant others in Molly’s life have their own stories interwoven with hers: a school-friend, the priest responsible for the assault, and the nun – her teacher and confidante – who leaves the convent, no longer able to cope with rampant hypocrisy and control.

To 17-year-old Molly, whisked away to a hospital where priests’ offspring are illegally adopted, everyone seems to have deserted her.