Shannon Kelly-White: Billie King

Join author Shannon Kelly-White for an author event at Gertrude & Alice. We'll be celebrating the launch day of her debut novel, Billie King.

WHEN: Thursday, 23rd July 2026, at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore. Please arrive when doors open at 6:45pm for a 7pm start. The event concludes at 8:30pm.

TICKETS: 

Admission: $25.00 (excluding external fees), includes admission for one to the intimate event, and a glass of wine and nibbles upon arrival.

Admission + Book: $50.00 (excluding external fees), includes admission for one to the event, a copy of Billie King (RRP: $34.99), a glass of wine and nibbles upon arrival for each guest.

A blisteringly fast, fresh, funny and hugely entertaining novel of mothers, daughters and one gutsy wild colonial girl who gets caught up in Australia's last female bushranger's quest for revenge. Think Leah Purcell's The Drover's Wife meets Trent Dalton.

1918: Australia's last bushranger, Dulcie James, holds up Anna King's falling-down farmhouse. There's a scrawny unloved infant on the floor, Anna seems more furious than frightened, and it's the bushranger who's left shaken. And the next day, Anna disappears.

Twelve years later, Anna's daughter, Billie King, is a girl ready to explode. With a missing mother, the rent in arrears and her alcoholic father's gambling debts to cover, she has no time for school. But when child services threaten to remove Billie from her father, she must decide between continuing her search for her missing mother and keeping what's left of her family together. If she fails to hold onto her father, she'll be taken away and placed in a children's home, but if she doesn't find her missing mother, who will?

'This blazing novel had me gripped from first page to last. Wildly original, utterly tender, fiercely feminist and astoundingly good storytelling, I inhaled it.' - Tess Woods, The Venice Hotel.

About the Author:

Shannon Kelly-White is a powerful new voice in fiction - irreverent and honest. She has a fearless approach to women's stories and has built an incredible platform with her three nonfiction books.

About Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore

Rated as one of the top 10 bookstores in the world by National Geographic, Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore is an oasis for writers, readers, and coffee lovers. Books overflow from the shelves of their store, featuring a mix of new, second-hand, antiquarian and rare books. Stay a while & enjoy some homemade chai, and amazing coffee, and unearth a book treasure or two. Read more about the bookstore's story here, and about the real Gertrude & Alice here.