From the Inside
The first nine weeks of the Black Summer fires in the Upper Murray
This book is an account of the experience of the Newnham family during the Black Summer Fires. Although an intensely personal memoir, it reflects the experience of many rural families who battled the bushfires of 2019/2020. It provides a unique insight into the experience and is a gripping read. 
From The Inside details the intense situation in which the author found herself: initially home alone, defending the family home, a weatherboard farm house, from flying embers whilst anxiously trying to support her husband and sons (who were actively engaged as volunteer firefighters on the multiple fire fronts), before the scene deteriorated to one of devastation, heartbreak, and frustration. The aftermath was traumatic as the family battled to feed and manage their cattle and many strays from surrounding farms, help neighbours, and set out on the recovery journey. 
The situation was magnified by a loss of means of communication to family and friends. Police roadblocks and surrounding fire fronts prevented access and telecommunication infrastructure was destroyed by the fire. Fortunately, the Newnhams had technological capacity in the form of satellite internet powered by a generator, with which Janice was able to send messages to a large number of family and friends in one missive via a social media post. She began doing this regularly and soon it became a blog from inside the fire front. As a keen amateur photographer, Janice captured images of terrifying fire activity and the dreadful aftermath with which she could illustrate these posts. Unbeknownst to her at the time, her posts became a daily obsession and information stream for many on the outside who had connections to the Upper Murray. Janice's social media following grew. 
With the approach of the anniversary of the Battle with the Beast, Janice felt she had an obligation to capture the experience for posterity, and was encouraged to create this book, From The Inside. It is a compilation of Janice's social media posts during the first nine weeks of the disaster period, linked by an engaging narrative and illustrated with over two hundred photographs. It is raw, confronting, sometimes fearful, sometimes funny and uplifting but always a very honest version of the Newnham family's experience. 
The book would be of interest to a wide demographic of the Australian public, particularly those with a rural background who may have been licked by bushfire.