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Book: The Only Blue Door by Joan Fallon

categories: Book, Family Saga, World War 2, The Blitz, Child Migrants, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Joan Fallon

about this book: THE ONLY BLUE DOOR is a novel inspired by some news I read, a few years ago, about British children, who were sent to Australia and Canada as child migrants. Some of these children were labelled as orphans when they had parents alive and well in Britain. It had taken many years for these events to come to light.

Shocked and incredulous by what I read I decided to write a novel about three young children who, through a series of tragic events ended up being shipped to orphanages in Australia. Maggie, Billy and Grace are uprooted from a loving family and thrown out into a strange harsh world. Once they arrive in Australia the children are separated but Maggie is determined to find her mother and reunite the family. The story is about what happens to them and how they make new lives for themselves.

Although the characters are all fictitious, the events and background have been well researched and I have tried to keep it within the mindset of the time. With hindsight we can see the errors that were made but many people at the time thought they were doing their best for the children.