🌸 Author talk at Woodend Library 10.30 am on 6 Dec 2025 - Ashes and Sakura 🌸

Dear all,

You are warmly invited to attend an author talk on Saturday 6 December 2025 at 10.30 am at the Woodend Library for my new book, Ashes and Sakura. Sakura is the Japanese word for the blossom of a cherry tree, symbolic of the frailty of life and the hope of renewal.

Ashes and Sakura is a companion historical novel to An Attractive Naivety. You'll find several of your favourite members of the Darcy/Davis family reappearing in the book which focuses on Australians in the immediate aftermath of WWII both at home and overseas. You can read more about my books and blogs on my website at https://nihilalienum.au

Even if you have already read the book, you will still get something out of the event as Matthew Gisborne and I chat about some other of the little known aspects of Australian society during this turbulent time of enormous change.

Please register for the event so we have an idea of numbers. It is on the same morning as the Woodend Farmers' Market, which is adjacent to the Library and always a lot of fun.

Ed from Woodend Bookstore will be there selling copies of my two books. They would make terrific Christmas presents, especially for hard-to-buy-for people of a certain age - ahem.

Please also do keep the reviews on Goodreads coming. I appreciate your honest reviews.

I am looking forward to seeing you,

David Gormley-O'Brien

Books and blogs by David Gormley-O'Brien

Exploring the human aftermath of war, migration, and Australian national identity through historical fiction.