General News
13 November, 2025
Writer peeks in mirror
LOCAL author Mary Messina is back with her third novel Mirror Images, a captivating historical romance set in North Queensland which transports readers back to the turbulent years of World War II.
The drama begins in Mussolini’s Italy where it is becoming increasingly apparent to two professional Jewish families that their fascist leader is following Hitler.
With the subsequent brutal murder of a young Jewish man, Nicola, for perceived ‘subversive activities’, a young Dr Pietro decides to emigrate with his young family to the safety of North Queensland.
Their tranquillity in this new land comes under threat, however, when Mussolini joins the Axis powers in June 1940.
Suddenly, Italian Australians became enemy aliens and random internments for their ethnicity and the government’s fear of a fifth column.
Through family letters, there are parallels between Mussolini’s treatment of the Italian Jews and the Australian government’s treatment of Italian Australians.
It is a story of enduring love, of stoic determination, of perseverance and resilience in the face of injustice and adversity.
Mrs Messina who was born in Castiglione di Sicilia and immigrated to North Queensland at the age of six has lived in the region for 75 years. She completed her primary schooling at Mourilyan and secondary years at Good Counsel College and Mount Saint Bernard College, Herberton.
She studied a Bachelor of Arts through University of Queensland and Bachelor of Education through James Cook University and went on and taught humanities at Good Counsel College.
During her retirement, Mrs Messina wrote her first novel ‘Tonia’, released in 2009, followed by ‘Thorn in my Heart’, a sequel to Tonia in 2012.
Mrs Messina said she always loved reading, enjoyed the extensive research and gained inspiration for her writing from family and world history knowledge.
Her latest novel has attracted high praise with one reader describing Mirror Images, as a ‘moving portrayal of life in the early 1940s, a massively destructive period known as the World War II era’ and ‘Mirror Images is indeed a love story embroiled with historical events that educate and stimulate the reader.’
Mirror Images by Pegasus Elliott Mackenzie Publishers is available for sale at Larsen’s newsagency, Paronella Park, as well as online retailers such as Amazon, Booktopia and other reputable bookstores.
Mrs Messina will share her inspiration and history behind Mirror Images, with two author talks at the Innisfail library on Wednesday, 19 November at 10.30am and Saturday, 22 November at 9.30am.
For bookings, please go online via cassowarycoast.qld.gov.au/libraries, visit the library, or call 1300 366 616.
Read More: Innisfail