Starflower Press: 2013

Bluey Miller lives a charmed life in Calico Bay, a small rural town on the east coast of Australia. She built her popular wholefood café from nothing, and it has garnered a well-deserved reputation for world foods. When her mother dies, Bluey discovers that there was far more to her mother’s life than she’d realised. Why so many secrets? As she begins to unravel her mother’s past, she’s left wondering about their relationship. They had been so close over the years, yet now Bluey feels like she didn’t know her at all. Her very identity hangs by a thread. Who am I? she wonders. Who was my mother?

Seemingly insurmountable challenges lie ahead, and Bluey must face them without her mother by her side. She finds strength from her local community and daily nourishment from the welcoming atmosphere of her café, but is this enough? Drawing succour from the Australian bushland around her, friendships, emerging spirituality, a life-changing romance, and the memories of good mother love, Bluey must somehow find enough courage to allow the best of the past to become the foundation for her future.

Bluey’s Café is Veronika’s second novel. She lives in rural Cumbria, UK, with her husband and their teenage daughters. www.veronikarobinson.com

Cover illustration by Sara Simon www.sarasimon.co.uk

Published by www.starflowerpress.com and available online, or from www.themothermagazine.co.uk or, from December: Amazon and all good bookshops.

ISBN 978-0-9575371-2-5

Published by Starflower Press

www.starflowerpress.com

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the

British Library.

Life is a mosaic. How deep will you dig to find the authentic, beautiful, radiant you?

Betrayed by love, internationally successful children’s illustrator, Topaz Lane, has a jaundiced view of relationships. Sworn off men for life, she feels embittered that she’ll never achieve her one true dream: to have a family. When Topaz’s sister enters her in a local radio competition, her life changes forever. She soon discovers that everyone has a wound, and everyone has a gift to share. Cover illustration by Sara Simon. www.sarasimon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-9575371

Published by Starflower Press March 2013

180 pages
£6.99

www.starflowerpress.com

Here are some of the letters we've received about Veronika Robinson's debut novel.

Loved it – familiar, yet unexpected. Cried with happiness at the end. Perfect! Thank you, Veronika. Jacqui. Scotland

I have to tell you I just read Mosaic in two days.....that was beautiful. I loved every word, paragraph, page, chapter... I cried, smiled; my heart swelled with love and joy. I squirmed with delight. Thank you sooo much. I feel so honoured to have read it.

I don’t read anything else during University semesters for fear of getting distracted. This was one very beautiful book. I loved the circle of friendship. They gave so much of themselves. Truly inspiring. Reading your book has made me appreciate all my friends and family that have embellished my life so far. Tanya, Australia

Veronika, I read your wonderful book! Congratulations:) I LOVED it!

I loved spending an afternoon and evening in the company of lovely friends

– that’s just what it felt like, and just what I needed.

I managed to get some quiet time in the afternoon,

then was back at it as soon as the kids were asleep…and did not want to put it down.

It’s such a nurturing story. A modern-day fairy tale; one that could actually be true.

 I could feel how much love you had put into writing it. Thank you. Lindy, Mauritius

Veronika Robinson, owner and editor of The Mother Magazine, passionate, peaceful-parenting advocate, author and much-loved friend has written many non-fiction books: The Drinks are on Me, breastfeeding wisdom, to The Mystic Cookfire, the recipes of which fill my home with delicious smells and my belly with good food. Mosaic is her first novel. I was nervous, very nervous. Fiction is such a personal thing, the stories we choose to escape in, the characters we love, hate, cry with, cheer on, remember. I so wanted to enjoy this book, I was worried I wouldn't. Real people leapt off the pages, recognizable situations, relationship struggles and joys.

Veronika has taken her beliefs, her passions and written them into a wonderful story of meaning, exploring relationships, and the value of enjoying each and every blessing. Glimpses of music listened to, meals enjoyed, all added to a feeling of friendship with these characters, women of depth, survivors of life’s bruises, lovers of the every day and celebrators of the magic of living. Why on earth did I worry? I loved it. Denise, UK

I read this in about three days, a miracle seeing as I never usually get time to read anything with having children 24/7, but you know when you find a good book you can't put it down. I knew it would be, thanks Veronika. Becky.

Really, really enjoyed Mosaic; it reminds me a bit of Love Actually, and that's a compliment! Thank you Veronika, it arrived at the perfect time 'Flu plus a self-imposed 'screen-free' week. And I DID cry! Xxx Elizabeth. France.

What a beautiful story it is. I so enjoyed reading it, so much so that I read it all in one go with sleeping children cuddled up around me! I think you are a really powerful healer, and your words are your medicine. They offer the potential to heal and reveal to the depths of the human heart and soul. The wise women in your story are archetypes for our time, offering grace, truth and wisdom. I love the way you include so many aspects of natural birthing and parenting, and liked to imagine younger women reading this then exploring these ideas for themselves and making them a reality when they become mothers for themselves. A beautiful, inspiring story of the many depths of love and the human heart. Loved it and looking forward to your next ones! Clare

It's a fantastic book, I finished it last night (Monday) (it arrived Saturday morning). I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to everyone. It has the most beautiful description of a birth that I've ever read in a novel. I look forward to your next novel, Veronika. Michelle

I awoke early this morning to sunlight streaming through the house. Making a pot of cinnamon tea I settled down in my favourite chair and read Mosaic. What a treat ~ simple, truthful, peaceful, evocative, inspiring. A time spent with friends old and new. Thank you, Samantha

Well I could savour no more and just sat and read it all!! I can tell you it takes a lot to make me sit down in the day and read! I have cried my way through your beautiful book. I have truly loved it, and am so honoured to be in it. I really am. It is a beautiful book, and I miss all the characters hugely already! Bring on the next one!! Mandy Bingham, Irish singer and songwriter

I just have to share that I received my copy of Mosaic yesterday, and managed to finish it already between naps and my son's bedtime. What a WONDERFUL read. It is poignant to all of us, and truly relevant to everyone who is human. It was an amazing catalyst for me into some of the sore places in my heart that are so deeply in need of healing; places that are affecting my mothering of my son, and are crying out for ways to heal. I literally began to remember how to cry them out as I read the book.

The first page had me... the characters were immediately like my old friends and as they shared more of themselves with Topaz, the main character, I felt like I had known them all my life... it reminded me how incredibly important it is to have a circle of women in my life... something I have been desperately missing since moving to England 2.5 years ago.

Topaz is a beautiful mix of already-amazing woman and one open to expanding and learning new ways of being in the world. I was inspired and reassured that there is still time to become everything I dream of. And the storyline unfolding in her life kept me turning the pages well after I should have been in bed.

It was also incredibly refreshing to read a novel that fully encompasses the parenting life I find so natural and comfortable... scenes of delicious food, sweet experiences of birthing, parenting, educating ~ a way of being in the world that is in line with Nature. Usually reading novels there is some place that sticks, or prickles; some place where the way "the world" assumes a way of being that just goes against what I feel that I end up with a bad taste in my mouth. Mosaic left me with sweetness the whole way through, even through the bitter, painful, tearful parts.
Much Love, Kirsten

A lovely novel with a very human theme which almost everyone will relate to. I enjoyed this book - it is an accessible read with simple but touching descriptions that capture moments in human life and nature in a very evocative way. I loved the introduction of important issues such as gentle birthing, empathetic parenting and the importance of finding a peaceful connection with the earth. I hope that the novel will open the eyes of readers who happen upon it and do not yet know the joys of such a way of life.
I specifically liked the ending and the way the author has not shied from the sadness which so many of us, if not all, experience - bereavement, baby loss, changes that are difficult to manage and accept. I suppose life is a mosaic, as per the title, and beautiful in all its parts as well as a whole picture - a fitting title then for this snap-shot of a very human protagonist and part of her uplifting, open-hearted journey. Clare Sage (review on Amazon)

Thank you for sharing your heart with us. The novel was intimately moving; I would like to get one for my eldest granddaughter. Would you sign it from your heart to hers from her grandma? I so want her to read it; beautiful seeds will be sown within. Not sure if she will read it, but just her being in the holding of it, will touch her and kindle a deep memory knowing.

Ruth