Author(s): Rosemary Hemphill

General Biography

A rare view of a place that has changed and a time that will never be repeated - Broome in the 1920s and 30s - told by Rosemary Hemphill, whose father owned one of the largest fleets of pearling luggers in the state and whose mother longed for the genteel life she had left behind in England. Now in her eighties, Rosemary writes about the arid, red frontier town that was filled with characters, stories and brilliant colours.Rosemary Hemphill has long been recognised as one of Australia's leading herb and spice experts. What few know is that she was born and raised in Broome during the last years of the pearling industry's boom time, the daughter of an Englishwoman and a master pearler.The Master Pearler's Daughter is Rosemary's memoir of an extraordinary childhood lived in this most isolated of Australian towns. We experience with her the heat and harshness of a frontier settlement, the racial divisions and strict social order of the 1920s and '30s, as well as the beauty and fun, the rich cultural influences, and the pearling way of life.Told with passion and gentle humour, The Master Pearler's Daughter is a delightful and fascinating look at a world that has long gone.