Pernilla's Gift

About the Writer

Carmel Joyce was exposed to the power of the written word when, at the age of eight, she wrote a letter of youthful protest to her local council. Much to her surprise, her letter resulted in action on the issue she’d raised.

Over the years, Carmel has experienced several careers in the business world of banking, insurance, along with businesses in retailing and construction. Her many overseas travels continue to captivate her interest in international cultural studies.

During a five-year period of teaching in the United Kingdom, Carmel taught several technical subjects, at two colleges. Time spent in the northern hemisphere began Carmel’s interests in her own family History Research and with the stories she uncovered, quickly became her passion.

Within twenty years, her research was so abundant that she felt compelled to write and publish at least one novel on early Australian pioneers. She has a kaleidoscope of historical facts and Australian true stories, which she now writes and publishes as feature screenplays.
Carmel is a very proud Australian whose greatest wish is for Australians to discover their rich cultural heritage and their families’ pioneering contribution to the development of the Australian nation.

Synopsis: Born into a rural Swedish community of religious restraints, Pernilla knew if she stayed in Gammalthorp, her life would be filled with hard-labouring, farm work and delivering a baby yearly as her mother and grandmother did in their short lives. When her stepmother dies, Pernilla realises she must make a stand against all community authorities of father, church and state. Eloping with Carl, a boy she has known since childhood, to the nearby town of Karlshamn, Pernilla's spoilt and reckless nature charts a course that continues to take her into troubled waters. After losing Carl, she endures many challenges as her plans begin to unravel. She is pregnant and alone but determined to survive in the cold town of heartless despair where everyone must have church and state on their side, or are forced into desperate measures to stay alive. She does survive, but at what cost. What is to become of this family of two?