A story about family secrets and tension spanning generations, following a mother and daughter across the globe - fleeing their home because of war.Hanna was born in Vienna, Austria, two years after the end of WWI. Her mother was a strict disciplinarian and her father a drunkard. He disappeared when Hanna was one-year old.Coming from a low socio-economic environment in class-conscious Vienna, Hanna decided early on that the only way to better her life was to educate herself, her ticket to marry up into a better social class, which she did.Hitler annexing Vienna played havoc with her well-established, cozy, married life as Hermann, her husband, was sent to the North German front in Lubeck. While he was away, she gave birth to their daughter, Gilda. War escalated and by law, Hanna was forced to take in a billet, Vladimir, to live with her and Gilda. A relationship developed with Vladimir, as Hermann had left her and, she had nowhere else to turn. However, he was a political dissident from Macedonia and they had to flee Vienna before he was assassinated. So started a series of clandestine escapes from Vienna, to Salzburg, Paris, Genoa, by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, around the coast of Australia, to Townsville in northern Australia before settling in Brisbane a year late.Gilda was 8 by this stage. Maverick Daughter is the story of her and her mother. They are linked by the men in their lives, the betrayals, abuse, triumphs and love.As people, we each have an innate resource that enables us to enhance and enrich our lives. What is this resource that allows us to have heaven on Earth, hell on Earth and anything in between? It’s our imagination and how we use it. When we voluntarily use it, we create our life by how we choose to react to circumstances. Each of these two women used this powerful tool, imagination, to create her life in different ways with vastly different results. You may see parallels in your own life, in the lives of members of your family or in the lives of people you know. Both mother and daughter rebelled in their own way, and the effects this had on each of their lives could not have been more different. We all choose our path and it is our right to do so. Perhaps we can learn from their story and create a better world. These women honour us by sharing their lives
