Cyclone Tracy survivor Baden Scholefield unveils latest novel, The Flame Trees

A former Darwin resident and Cyclone Tracy survivor has unveiled his latest novel, which is set in the Territory.

Baden Scholefield, the author of Cockatoo Creek, has released his latest novel The Flame Trees. Picture: Supplied

A former Darwin resident and Cyclone Tracy survivor has unveiled his latest novel, The Flame Trees – and he’s encouraging all Territorians to give it a read.

Authored by Baden Scholefield – who has penned several books and short stories – The Flame Trees follows the fictional story of 33-year-old Charlotte Dawson, an Adelaide schoolteacher who learned she was receiving a large inheritance from someone unknown to her living in Darwin in 1996.

At first, Ms Dawson thought the caller, who had called from a solicitor’s office in Darwin, had made a mistake, as she did not know of any relative of hers ever living in the Top End.

But the caller insisted there were no mistake and advised that a meeting in their office in Darwin was of the highest importance.

Baden Scholefield, the author of Cockatoo Creek, has released his latest novel The Flame Trees. Picture: Supplied

After giving it some thought, Ms Dawson reluctantly agrees and travels to Darwin to meet with Paul Rosenberg, a senior partner of the legal firm Rosenberg and Gately.

The meeting ends up changing her life forever, according to the novel’s blurb.

In writing his latest novel, Scholefield, who is now retired and lives with his wife Judy in Queensland, has drawn from his experiences in remote areas of Australia such as the Kimberley, Arnhem Land and small islands off the coast of northern Australia to frame his ideas.

The golf-enthusiast has also previously worked as a construction supervisor, general builder, cabinet-maker, painter and salesman.

Baden Scholefield, the author of Cockatoo Creek, has released his latest novel The Flame Trees. Picture: Supplied

His latest work has been met with many positive reviews so far, with one user – a self-described “true fan” of Scholefield’s work – sharing it was a “book you cannot put down”.

The Flame Trees is not the first novel he’s written featuring Darwin either.

Prior to his latest release, Scholefield also authored Cockatoo Creek, a 610-page historical fiction novel set during the 1930s in the northwest of Western Australia and parts of the Northern Territory.

To see more of Scholefield’s previous work, visit his website here: https://baden-scholefield-author4.webnode.page/

The Flame Trees and Cockatoo Creek are both available through online booksellers Booktopia, Barns and Noble, Amazon, and Angus and Roberton.