Fires Within

Fires Within seeks to explore contemporary life issues, especially the often conflicting inner fires of sexuality and spirituality - conflicting not just with each other, but also with traditional religious and social attitudes and myths. The novel begins where it ends - but then goes back to earlier years to trace the circumstances and rapidly changing community attitudes that have combined to bring the individuals in this story to this point in their lives.
Peter is the central character - a minister/pastor, who struggles with these issues within the conservative and often defensive ethos of the traditional Australian church - and particularly in relation to unresolved grief in his own life. Len is a doctor, facing similar issues within secular society. Jay is a Chinese woman, who has to work through these same conflicts - firstly, growing up as the daughter of a missionary doctor in what then became Communist China, and later as a reluctant masseuse/sex worker in Australia. Rather than trying to provide simplistic or moralistic answers to these inner conflicts, these characters - individually, and later, through their interaction with one another - grapple with their search for personal integrity. This frequently means having to stand out against peer group opinion, and challenge some of the traditions and myths that often limit their enjoyment of the fullness of life.
While all characters in the novel are fictitious, the unfolding events deliberately reflect the kind of situations and raw emotions that are common in many people's lives. In a real world that is far from perfect, the choices that they have to make are not simply between 'good' and 'bad' - but reflect the multi-faceted dilemas that often confront real people. The author attemps to deal with these issues in a non-judgemental way, hopefully opening the door for readers, grappling with similar issues, to explore new possibilities in their own lives.