Lou Drofenik recently presented her first novel, Birds of Passage, to Maltese readers at Dar l-Emigrant. Born Lou Zammit in Malta, she emigrated to Australia in 1961 under the “Single Women Scheme” and has been living in Melbourne for the past 40 years.

After carrying out a 10-year research on Maltese women for her doctorate in Philosophy, Dr Drofenik decided to write this story about five women: one from Gozo, three from Malta and one Englishwoman, who left the island to go to Australia. The book came out last March in Australia and received critical acclaim and comments. “It is a love story,” she told the Malta Independent on Sunday, “and the women are fictitious characters” but it gives the reader an opportunity to discover a bit more about Malta’s history and culture as it deals with complex migration experiences and describes what society was like in the late 19th century.

The book is also about female oppression in a male dominated world. But Lou seems optimistic on this subject because all the characters in her novel are very independent and self-determined women who triumph in the end. She also thinks that women are more open now in Maltese society, as they are liberating themselves, as she was liberated in Australia.

Lou Drofenik is confident about the positive response this book will get in Malta as she has been told that it is a “gripping tale” and a “sheer pleasure” to read.