Josephine Burden

Washing Up in Malta Josephine Burden

Washing Up in Malta is about travel, coming of age, mothers and daughters. The lives of two women, Jessica and Grace, unfold across a century of change. Their particular journeys take them through Scotland, England, Germany, Africa, Bahamas, and Australia. Through it all, the place that punctuates their lives as a marker of home is the tiny island of Malta, at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. Grace begins her journey here, and Jessica completes the circle by returning to Malta toward the end of her life. In between, Grace and Jessica hear different drums. Their lives share common rites of passage and the love of one man, but they each have their own way of dealing with the challenges of their times. Just as Malta struggles to find a path toward independence, Jessica and Grace also find their own way through the competing demands of the world around them.