Legacy of Strangers
Logline
As mid 19th century English and Irish migrants flee their homelands for the colonies the hopes of four strangers are dashed as they get swept up in a world of violence, murder, illicit romance and betrayal. As they struggle to survive, their paths cross with disastrous and fatal outcomes.
Genre
Action,Crime,Epic,Historical Fiction,Romance
Short Summary
An attack and rescue on a Dublin street, a boy's hanging outside Newgate prison for a petty crime; and young house maids secret liaisons with guests introduce us to the fractured existence of our main characters before fate sets them on a journey that will change their lives forever.
The stories climax with an attack on a prostitute that starts a fire that destroys Auckland's waterfront and ends a crime wave. The inferno sparks an unlikely liaison after unhappy love affairs and struggles for survival ... with an unexpected springboard into the next novel in the series.
Setting
Mid-19th century London, Dublin, Melbourne and Auckland
Based on a True Story
Yes
Plot - Premise
Rags to Riches,Tragedy,Quest
Plot - Other Elements
Twist
Mature Audience Themes
Information not completed
Main Character Details
Name: Lydia Hallet
Age: teens into late 20's over time
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Desperate,Faithful,Naive,Uneducated,Romantic,Secretive,Aspiring
Additional Character Details
Name: Jarlath Breen
Age: teens into late 20's over time
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Charming,Confident,Decisive,Educated,Masculine,Romantic,Secretive,Visionary
Additional Character Details
Name: Edwin Collier
Age: teens into late 20's over time
Gender: Male
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Aspiring,Aggressive,Charming,Complex,Criminal,Desperate,Insecure,Underdog,Uneducated,Secretive
Additional Character Details
Name: Ruth Amery
Age: late 20's
Gender: Female
Role: tempter
Key Traits: Insecure,Seductive,Uneducated,Desperate
Development Pitch
Read this and you'll appreciate why others say that Legacy of Strangers would make a compelling TV series if not movie. It's written that way - thanks to the writer's media background - with an episodic structure involving real and fictional characters against an authentic backdrop of English and Irish migration to colonial Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. (Think of Bryce Courtenay novels or some of the historical sagas you've enjoyed most.) You may think some of the storyline is implausible. But it's based on little-known documented fact or events and involves reputable as well as unsavoury identities of the era. And the sub-plots - illicit romance between Catholic and Jew, illegitimate offspring, crime and punishment - provide an unexpected springboard into the next novel that begins in the shanghai era of San Francisco. Readers and reviewers tell me they like the way the story gathers momentum; and the structure involving multiple stories kept them hanging on to see what happens next. If only they'd post reviews! Unfortunately, I'm not experienced or skilled at script-writing. But then, you no doubt know who could turn this into a winner.