Cirrus@Austlit

''Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.'

Winston Churchill, 11th March 1941

'Give Us the Tools is a mystery novel based on actual events.

'During the Second World War Anne Preston is employed by the Aircraft Metrology Laboratory at Fishermen's Bend, Melbourne. Here she becomes embroiled in the espionage and intrigue which successfully sabotages the manufacture of Beaufort Bombers.

'Born in 1924 when fascism, communism and democracy started on the collision course that led to the war, she confronts opposing beliefs and ideals and asks questions rarely contemplated by young Australians of that era.

'A few months before the Atom Bomb ends the war with tools which now have the power to 'finish the world', the Commonwealth Police hold an enquiry into the sabotage.' (Publication summary)

'Remember Alberobello is the story of Rachel Ferguson. The daughter of a ruthlessly ambitious father and a frail mother, Rachel experiences unusual insights and prescient dreams that defy logic. Marrying in her early 20s, and travelling to Italy for her honeymoon, she later converts to the Roman Catholic Church.

'Confronted with the evils within the Catholic Church, she is compelled to question the nature of her faith, the relationship between religion and spirituality, and her own conviction that good will overcome evil.

'At the heart of Rachel’s story is the mystery of her parents’ strange relationship, and the underlying theme that an unplanned honeymoon detour to Alberobello may be linked to every aspect of her life. ' (Publication summary)