The Missing Village

All along the eastern coast of England, storm surges threaten the lives of families now and in past centuries. Josh Campbell, a Brisbane journalist, flew to Norfolk to report on these incidents. He hired Carly Williams as his photographer, and together they unearthed several local and historical stories as they watched a house teetering on the brink of a crumbling cliff. Carly had been living in England for the past two years, and didn’t want to return to Broome until she found her mother, who was listed as a Missing Person in Australia for ten years. Will she find her mother? Will Josh and Carly see a future together? The Missing Village was inspired by a real 14th century fishing village called Shipden, which is now scattered under the North Sea. There are three historical sections, tied together by the trail of an ancient box. The villager’s traditions, cultural expectations, how they lived, what they ate, plagues and the North Sea gradually engulfing their land, from 1348 to 2013. So many threads to pull together. Then to move seamlessly back and forth between 14th century Europe and present-day Australia, weaving together the lives of these characters through the tenuous and uncertain history of the handmade, ancient box. The chronicle of its journey is narrated by Josh in the form of his newspaper articles as he uncovers so many historical gems.  Will the box be discovered? What secrets is it hiding?  It is a work of historical fiction, from the times when modern-day Cromer was called Crowmere, and the North Sea was known as the German Ocean. When Shipden was a thriving fishing village with a market, from the time it was taken by the sea to modern times when village secrets clung to the ocean floor, two kilometres from the Cromer pier. The Missing Village was longlisted in the McKitterick Prize, Society of Authors, London.