One of Australia’s bestselling authors Mary-anne O’connor writes epic stories drawing from rich family history

‘Through her sensitivity, beautiful writing and gift as a storyteller, O’connor’s readers come to know and love her characters.’ — THE WEEKLY TIMES

Mary-anne O’connor is the bestselling author of the Australian novels Gallipoli

Street, Worth Fighting For and the stunning new release War Flower.

With a love of immersing her readers in epic love stories that span decades and continents, Mary-anne writes to pay tribute to Australian war veterans, and finds she is drawn to creating characters whose humanity is tested under unthinkable circumstances.

Mary-anne is a mother of two who lives with her family in the bushland of northern Sydney and has very personal motivations for writing these stories. Passing down stories is an important tradition in her family, and her first novel, Gallipoli Street, is very much the story of her grandparents. Her grandfather – ‘Da’, a reference to his Irish roots – was one of the original ANZACS. He enlisted at seventeen and served in Gallipoli, the Western Front and Palestine. Other inspirations include her uncles Des Clancy, a WWII pilot and adventurer who was referred to as ‘Ghost’ by the Indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea after becoming the first Caucasian ever to set foot in their world, and Jack Clancy, who enlisted underage like her grandfather, and became part of ‘ the Elite’, a real-life unit of men too young to serve who were instead given intensive training until they came of age.

‘I feel incredibly fortunate to have these members of the golden age within my family, and to have the opportunity to share uniquely Australian stories that will hopefully resonate with readers across generations,’ says Mary-anne today.