Joan spent more than two decades researching and writing Oh Grandmama!, a fictionalised account of her grandmother Emma’s adventurous and troubled life. The tale starts in Malta, where Emma Miller was born and raised, then moves to Italy and England, returning finally to the blue waters of the Mediterranean. The book relates Emma’s battles as a lover, wife and mother, and the difficult decisions that she faced, decisions that would have serious consequences for those she loved.

Joan wrote the story largely for her mother, Iris, who was the youngest daughter of Grandmama Emma, and who was deeply scarred by events in her childhood. As such, the story is also a record of Iris’s own difficult upbringing in Italy and England, and her own struggles with love, marriage and motherhood.

Joan’s Maltese grandmother Emma Miller as a young lady

Much of the action is based on real places, people and events, as related to Joan by her mother over many years. In an effort to understand events that took place so long ago, Joan paid several visits to relatives in Malta, as well as enjoying a few holidays in Italy. However, inevitably, much of the action and dialogue is invented, as are many of the minor characters.

As Joan says in her preface, her aim was to imagine how Grandmama Emma would have felt in the various difficult situations that she faced, how she would have been emotionally torn and forced to take certain steps.

It was Joan’s hope that the book would be finished in time for her mother Iris to read it, but sadly this was not possible, Iris passing away more than a decade before the final draft. Even so, Joan hopes this epic tale, which stretches over four generations and almost 100 years, will be of some interest to her extended family, who may be intrigued by their adventurous foreign ancestors.

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